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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29680539">The Lies We Tell</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BackinBlack_80/pseuds/BackinBlack_80'>BackinBlack_80</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to friends to lovers to something else, Established Relationship, Good Guys and Bad Guys, Heros and Villains AU, M/M, Violence, lawrusso</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:01:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,290</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29680539</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BackinBlack_80/pseuds/BackinBlack_80</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Is there good and bad? Or only weak and strong? What happens when your greatest love becomes your most deadly enemy?</p><p>Daniel and Johnny realise that that never really knew each other at all. And that the truth can sometimes get you killed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>81</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He looked down at the street below him. It was his favourite part of the evening, after the sun had gone down but not quite dark. Twilight. The shadows hid him easily in the darkness but no one was yet on their guard.</p><p> </p><p>Something was happening, he knew it. There was a shout. A woman’s voice. The cry was cut off suddenly. He had patrolled these streets to know what he was hearing.</p><p> </p><p>He moved along the roof and towards the fire escape. The gap between the stairs and the next building was wide but he made the jump. He hit the opposite roof soundlessly and walked, looking down, looking for the source of the sound.</p><p> </p><p>There were muffled voices below him. He looked over the edge of the roof, down to the alley below.</p><p> </p><p>A woman was up against a car, a man with a knife leaning into her. She was crying and the knife was pressed up into her throat.</p><p> </p><p>Keeping his eyes on the scene below him, he moved down the fire escape, feet silent as he slipped down the metal stairs. He moved down another flight of stairs.</p><p> </p><p>The man in the alley turned, hearing a noise above him. He looked up into the shadows, saw nothing. He turned back to the woman. She cried as he squeezed her hand, pulling a gold wedding ring roughly off her finger. </p><p> </p><p>‘And the watch’ he growled. ‘Come on, move it.’</p><p> </p><p>She fumbled with her watch, hands trembling as she fought with the strap. </p><p> </p><p>There was a soft thud behind them as feet hit the ground.</p><p> </p><p>‘Let her go and give her back the jewellery’ the man said.</p><p> </p><p>The other man turned and laughed nastily. ‘Who’s this? Fucking Batman? Get lost, buddy’</p><p> </p><p>The man stepped closer. ‘Didn’t you hear what I said? Give the lady her jewellery back and we can all go home.’</p><p> </p><p>He shoved the woman against the car and spun round to face the man. ‘You looking for a problem?’ He held a knife in front of him. ‘You need to learn to mind your business.’</p><p> </p><p>The other man stepped closer and the knife was raised defensively. ‘I didn’t start this. You started this when you decided to rob that woman. I’m only going to tell you one more time. Give her the jewellery back’ he said again.</p><p> </p><p>The man lunged at him; knife held high. It was easily dodged and a foot came down on the back of the man’s knee. He fell to the floor, dropping the knife.</p><p> </p><p>‘OK, you asked for it’ the robber said. He threw a punch and second, both easily blocked. He wasn’t a natural fighter, relied too much on his weapon, and with it gone he was sloppy with his fists. He threw a third punch and the other man grabbed his hand and twisted his arm up behind his back.</p><p> </p><p>He pushed the robber away and kicked him in the small of the back. The man was thrown far into the far wall. His head hit the wall and he slumped down, blood flowing from his forehead.</p><p> </p><p>The other man walked slowly over to him and reached down. He put his hand into the man’s pocket and pulled out a handful of items. Watched, rings, necklaces. All stolen from other victims. He took the lot, intended to leave them anonymously at the local police station</p><p> </p><p>He took the gold ring and turned back towards the woman. He stepped towards her. </p><p> </p><p>‘Your ring’ He held it out to her and she took it, her hands shaking. </p><p> </p><p>‘Thank you,’ she stuttered, putting it back onto her finger.</p><p> </p><p>‘You’re welcome’ he turned and walked away. She watched as the blond man walked down the alleyway and into the night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Johnny entered the penthouse apartment. He was tired to his bones. It had been another long night. He could smell something wonderful being cooked in the kitchen. Johnny smiled. Nothing was better than coming home to his partner’s cooking.</p><p> </p><p>He saw Daniel in the kitchen that Johnny always joked was way too big for two people. But what did he care? Daniel was paying for it. </p><p> </p><p>‘You’re late’ Daniel stepped out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dishcloth.</p><p> </p><p>‘I’m sorry,’ he replied. ‘Long lesson tonight’</p><p> </p><p>‘Well, you’re just in time. I’m about to serve up’ Daniel went back into the kitchen and Johnny followed him.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel was at the stove, stirring a pan. Johnny came behind him, snaked his arms around his waist. His mouth was against the other man’s neck.</p><p> </p><p>‘Mmmm. That smells amazing’ he murmured into his partner's skin.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel smacked his wrist with a wooden spoon. ‘Stop that. I’m trying to cook’</p><p> </p><p>‘Party pooper’ Johnny moved away and sat at the table. Before long, a large plate of spaghetti was placed in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>The two men ate in comfortable silence, enjoying each other’s company. Between Daniel’s work and Johnny's late nights, they had fewer and fewer opportunities to spend time together. Johnny treasured the time they did. Just the two of them with the world behind a closed door.</p><p> </p><p>Dinner finished and dishwasher humming, they curled up on the sofa, watching TV, neither really paying attention to what they were watching. Daniel lay with his head on Johnny’s thigh, legs hanging over the arm of the sofa, Johnny with his feet up on the coffee table. Johnny casually fingered his partner’s dark hair.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel turned, looking up at Johnny. ‘How was class today?’</p><p> </p><p>‘OK. Tough’ he answered casually.</p><p> </p><p>‘Any bruises this time?’ </p><p> </p><p>Johnny smiled. ‘No. I did pretty well tonight. They couldn’t get through my defences’ He watched the TV. Daniel looked at him for a moment and turned back to the screen.</p><p> </p><p>*************************</p><p> </p><p>Johnny stood in the shower, letting the hot water ease his muscles. He put his head against the tiles and breathed out.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> I’m getting too goddamn old for this. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He stepped out of the shower and stood in front of the mirror. He used a towel to wipe the condensation from the mirror and looked at himself. Johnny turned and examined his back. There was a red mark where he had been stabbed the night before. Not deep but deep enough to hurt a weaker man. It was healing well but every year healing seemed to sap more and more of his energy. </p><p> </p><p>No matter how many times he told himself this would be the last time, he always found himself heading out into the night. And he always seemed to find trouble. </p><p> </p><p>Gangs, drugs, muggings, rapes, murders. Every one he heard about in the local news hit him. The guilt. The thought that if he had been there, he could have helped, could have made a difference. Everyone makes it harder to take the next night off.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel thought he went to an MMA class. Johnny had told him that he wanted a new challenge, to enhance his martial art skills. It explained away the late nights and the bruises. Not the stab and gunshot wounds, but Johnny only needed to keep those concealed while they healed. A stab wound would turn into no more than a scratch in twenty-four hours, a gunshot a little longer. So long as Johnny didn't bleed out before he healed, he knew he’d be OK.</p><p> </p><p>He also knew that he wasn’t invincible. His father wasn’t invincible, didn’t last as long as Johnny had, taken down by a gunshot to the head trying to stop a bank robbery when Johnny was a baby. Deep down Johnny knew he would probably go the same way. But he still went out, wandering the streets looking for trouble. And he always seemed to find it. Either LA is getting more dangerous or criminals have just given up trying to hide it. It all made Johnny feel really old.</p><p> </p><p>It was easy when he was younger. He was faster, stronger, healed quicker. His mother had explained to him at a young age that he was different to other children, that he had to be careful not to accidentally hurt anyone. Karate training had helped him control himself, had given him discipline. Then when he hit his twenties, he had begun to go out at night. He understood what had driven his father. The guilt of not doing something when he knew he could. Johnny had started going out, started helping. And now in his fifties, he still went out. It just hurt more.</p><p> </p><p>He ran a towel over his head, roughly drying his hair, and left the bathroom. He crossed the hall and into their bedroom. Daniel was sitting up in bed, looking at his iPad. He was wearing his glasses. As Johnny entered the room, Daniel took them off and placed them on the nightstand. Johnny knew Daniel was self-conscious about his glasses. Johnny didn’t know why. As far as he was concerned Daniel looked great, glasses or no glasses.</p><p> </p><p>He sat in the bed, naked and pulled the bedclothes back. Johnny climbed into bed, moving towards Daniel. He wrapped his arms around his partner’s waist. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked down at him from his iPad. ‘Johnny, come on. I need to finish this report’ he complained.</p><p> </p><p>‘That’s OK. You finish it. I’ll entertain myself here’ Johnny said as he nudged Daniel’s nightshirt up with his nose. He kissed Daniel’s stomach.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny would never understand why Daniel slept in a full pyjama set when Johnny was quite happy to sleep naked. Who needs clothes specifically for sleeping? Just another in the long list of differences between the two men.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel sighed and put the iPad aside. He would never be able to concentrate with Johnny’s lips against his skin. He moved down into the bed and found his lover's mouth. Daniel kissed him, gasping into Johnny’s mouth as the other man pulled Daniel’s pyjamas down and took him in his hand.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was raining. It hardly ever rained in LA and when it did, it poured. Rain always made LA look dark, the streetlights dim, and the streets empty. The only place that was busy in LA when it rained was the freeway. Red brake lights snaked for miles and miles as commuters tried to get home and away from the weather.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny loved the rain. He was a born and bred Californian, should have hated it, but the rain always meant one thing. Quiet. No one wanted to be out in it. No one was worth robbing, worth raping enough to go out during a downpour. </p><p> </p><p>He sat on the roof looking down at the drenched streets. He could see the rain in the streetlights, long straight lines against the yellow light, like someone had drawn them with a ruler. Water ran down his face, was in his hair, but he wasn’t cold. He was never cold. Another abnormality about him. He was always warm, regardless of the temperature outside. He could sit naked in a snowdrift and be perfectly comfortable.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny watched a cab driving down the road, splashing the sidewalk as it went. He knew he should be heading home soon. Just a few more minutes. Daniel hated Johnny’s habit of going out in the rain, couldn’t understand it. Having grown up with New Jersey weather, the cold winters he endured as a child, he never understood the novelty of the rain. Johnny would come home dripping, soaking the carpet, and Daniel would complain, throw a towel at him. The thought made Johnny smile.</p><p> </p><p>The two men had been together for five years, having met at LaRusso Autos when Johnny’s car had been damaged by teenagers. Their first meeting had been odd. Neither had seen the other since high school and the night of the 1984 tournament and Johnny hadn’t known what to say to Daniel. He was almost waiting for Daniel to restart their rivalry as if no years had passed. </p><p> </p><p>That day in December 1984 was one Johnny would never forget. There were only a handful of people who knew Johnny’s secret. His mother, his late father, and his sensei. Kreese had found out by accident, had caught Johnny in an unguarded moment. Johnny had been young and showing off, wanting to please his new teacher and Kreese had seen what his student was capable of. Johnny would remember the shock on his sensei's face and then the man breaking into a gleeful smile. Kreese had never been interested in the hows or the whys, just in what he could do with the boy.</p><p> </p><p>That had been a mistake. Kreese had trained Johnny, tried to make him ruthless, tried to make him use his unique gifts to hurt the other boys. All Kreese wanted was to win, a passion bordering on obsession. And he had almost succeeded. The tournament had been a turning point for Johnny. He had injured Daniel. He could have won that match, could have crushed Daniel with ease if he had wanted to. Could have crushed all of them. Instead, he let the smaller boy win. Daniel would never know what Johnny had done. It had cost Johnny everything. But what Kreese had wanted from him was so much worse.</p><p> </p><p>So, Johnny and Daniel’s first meeting had been an awkward one. Johnny still felt guilty for what he had done, and for what he had almost done. And they had argued, and then they had talked. And then they had found common ground. Both had been lost, looking for a father figure, both their fathers dead too soon. </p><p> </p><p>From understanding came closeness and after that came love. They had settled into easy domesticity. They were different. Daniel was put together and quick to anger. Johnny was scruffy and relaxed, trying not to let things bother him. But they fit.</p><p> </p><p>But Johnny had never revealed his real self to Daniel, had never shown Daniel what he was truly capable of. Johnny was strong, abnormally strong. He was fast, could outrun most cars if he put his mind to it. He healed at a rate that would have baffled doctors. And he had a sense. His mother had referred to it as his spidey-sense, after the comics books she read to him as a boy. He knew things, could feel when things were happening. It kept him sharp.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel could never know. Too much time had passed and Johnny had never told him. Now it was too much to explain, too late.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked up. A car was moving slowly down the street. Johnny watched it from the rooftop. He knew there was something about this car. Something was about to happen. </p><p> </p><p>He jumped from the rooftops, four stories, and landed easily, hardly making a sound. He stepped into the street and started walking, following the car. </p><p> </p><p>It pulled outside a convenience store and two men got out. Johnny saw the shotguns in their hand as they moved towards the door. He sighed. Not such a quiet night after all.</p><p> </p><p>**************************</p><p> </p><p>The apartment was dark when Johnny got home. He took his shoes off quietly by the door and placed them in the shoe rack. He crept down the hall and into the bathroom. Daniel was already asleep.</p><p> </p><p>He closed the door and looked at himself in the mirror. He pulled his hair back. He was bleeding. They weren’t deep, some minor cuts from flying glass as the shotgun hit the window, missing its target. They would be gone by morning.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny pulled his t-shirt over his head, threw it in the bath. He looked at himself. Some minor bruises, nothing to worry about.</p><p> </p><p>He had followed the men into the convenience store, watched as they attempted to hold the store owner up. They’d turned as they realised he was behind them. The first man hadn’t hesitated, had fired at Johnny and hit the window. Johnny liked shotguns. They did a lot of damage but were big and clumsy. They gave the owners a false sense of security, making them feel invincible. It hadn’t taken much to disarm them after that first shot. </p><p> </p><p>But the store owner had been injured. Not fatally but enough. Johnny had waited for the ambulance after the robbers had fled.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny knew he couldn’t save everyone; he had learnt that early. But it didn’t stop him from feeling responsible when he stepped in and someone got hurt anyway. </p><p> </p><p>He considered stopping for the millionth time. He knew he wouldn't.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Weeks later. Another night. Just like all the ones before. Johnny sat on a bench in the park. People ignored him. A single man late at night, sitting on a park bench. They assumed he was either homeless or drunk. He had been there for a while. He knew he was waiting for something.</p><p> </p><p>There had been activity in the park these last few nights. A new group of people. Drug dealers.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked over at the playground, the swings, and the slide. In the daytime, it would be teeming with kids. He didn’t like the thought of drugs in the park, knew enough to know that eventually, the sight of dealers would become normal to the kids until eventually they grew up and started dealing themselves. It happened all too often in this neighbourhood. The kids soon stopped being the ones who visited in the day and became the ones who visited at night. Johnny wanted the dealers gone.</p><p> </p><p>There was a group walking down the path, two men and a woman. Johnny knew it was them. The same way he always knew. He got up and followed them. They walked towards a skate park, Johnny following twenty meters behind them, head down, hands in his pockets. He sped up, started to close the gap.</p><p> </p><p>One heard him, stopped, and turned suddenly. They looked at him and he stared right back neither moving.</p><p> </p><p>‘Can I do something for you?’ One said, threatening. Johnny recognised the accent; one he knew well. New Jersey. Not from around here.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny didn’t answer; took two steps towards them. One pulled a knife. Johnny looked at the knife and took another step towards them. </p><p> </p><p>The three looked at each other. They were confident that Johnny had made a mistake approaching them. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny got closer. ‘The kid's park isn’t the place for this. If you must push, do it somewhere else.’</p><p> </p><p>They laughed. There was a pause and one lunged at him with the knife. Johnny blocked it easily and within moments he had the knife and the other man had a broken arm.</p><p> </p><p>As the man sunk to the floor clutching his arm, the other two went for Johnny. They were quickly overcome. Johnny wanted them down but he also wanted what they were carrying. </p><p> </p><p>Once they were on the ground, he hit them again, knocking them out, Johnny stood looking down at the three bodies around him. He went for their pockets. He collected up bags of powders and pills. They were carrying a lot. </p><p> </p><p>He turned and walked away. He reached the Los Angeles River. The recent rain had filled it higher than its usual trickle. Johnny opened the bags and poured the drugs into the water. He didn’t know the street value of it, didn’t care.</p><p> </p><p>Once empty he pushed the empty bags into a trash can and headed home. Another late MMA class. He thought of telling more lies. Daniel was starting to question the late nights, wanted Johnny home more often, and hours-long MMA classes were becoming less and less convincing.</p><p> </p><p>***********************</p><p> </p><p>A man walked into the office. He was nervous. He hated delivering bad news. With this guy ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ was more a plea for mercy than a saying.</p><p> </p><p>‘Boss, have you got a minute?’ He said timidly.</p><p> </p><p>‘What is it?’</p><p> </p><p>The man walked further into the room and stood in front of the desk.</p><p> </p><p>‘That guy, we’re having trouble with him again. He hit a couple of our guys last night. No one knows who he is but he’s causing us problems. Last night was a bad one. He took some of our supplies. They were on their way to the drop-off, as you told them, and got jumped. The whole lot was stolen’</p><p> </p><p>He stopped and watched his boss, waiting for his response.</p><p> </p><p>‘How much?’ He asked</p><p> </p><p>‘Uh…. eighty thousand, sir. He took all of it. They never made the drop’</p><p> </p><p>There was silence. The man waited. </p><p> </p><p>‘Where are they? I want to see them’</p><p> </p><p>The man cleared this throat. ‘Yes sir, I’ll bring them here.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Don’t bring them here! Are you stupid?!’ He said angrily. ‘Tell them to meet me tonight at the garage. I want to talk to them myself. I want to hear what they have to say for themselves.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Yes sir’</p><p> </p><p>‘And we don’t know who this person is? A rival? Someone new on the scene?’</p><p> </p><p>‘No sir. No one knows him. We don’t know who he works for. But this is the fourth time he’s hit our guys in the last three months.’</p><p> </p><p>‘OK. Keep digging. I want to know who he is and who he works for. Bring him to me or just fucking shoot him, I don’t care.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Yes sir. Do you need anything else?’</p><p> </p><p>‘No. Get out’ he waved his hand and turned his chair away.</p><p> </p><p>‘Yes sir’</p><p> </p><p>The man made a quick exit, his heart hammering in his chest. That had gone better than he thought it would. He felt for the three who had been jumped last night. They were probably not going to come out of their meeting as well as he had. Their boss scared the shit out of him.</p><p> </p><p>The door to the office closed and Daniel sat at his desk, looked out of the window, down at the car lot below him. He picked up his phone and sent a text.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Sorry babe. Got to work late tonight. Find yourself dinner OK. Love you. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Moments later his phone beeped.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em> Love you too. J </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Johnny was still up when Daniel came home. It was late. The living room was dark, the room lit only by the soft light of the TV. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel sat heavily on the sofa. ‘Hey’</p><p> </p><p>‘Hey,’ Johnny responded. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel pulled his shoes off and threw them into the corner. Johnny watched him. He could see how tired his partner was. </p><p> </p><p>‘Everything alright?’ Johnny asked, placing a hand on Daniel’s back.</p><p> </p><p>The other man sighed, rubbing his hands with the heels of his hands. ‘Yeah. Long day. Problems with the staff’</p><p> </p><p>‘Come here’ Johnny sat up and put his hands on Daniel’s shoulders, started to massage them. Daniel closed his eyes and breathed out as his partner rolled his thumbs across the knots in his muscles. </p><p> </p><p>‘You’re so good at that’ Daniel said.</p><p> </p><p>‘Shhh. Just relax’ Johnny said soothingly</p><p> </p><p>They sat like that for a while. Johnny’s hands on his partner. Daniel’s eyes closed. Daniel could feel himself melting under Johnny’s touch. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel put his hand up and grasped Johnny’s, turning towards him. ‘No matter how shit work is, coming home to you always makes me feel better’ He kissed Johnny and stood. Johnny smiled. Daniel never could sit still for long.</p><p> </p><p>‘There’s some food in the microwave if you’re hungry.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel smiled and walked to the kitchen. He took a bottle of water from the fridge and leant against the counter, looking back at Johnny, who had settled back on the sofa.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel turned to the microwave and began to heat his meal.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel sometimes felt bad about the secrets he kept from Johnny but keeping his home life from his work life was important. Daniel’s accountant had on more than one occasion suggested Johnny's dojo as an easy place to clean some ill-gotten cash and every time Daniel had aggressively shut him down. He did not want Johnny involved.</p><p> </p><p>Running his first garage back in his twenties had been a struggle. Valeting, tune-ups, servicing, minor repairs. It had been a small-time affair and Daniel had struggled to keep his head above water, working all the hours God gave him. Until one day his Uncle Louise back in New Jersey had introduced him to a new business opportunity. There was always a way to make some extra income through a predominantly cash-based business. Daniel had resisted at first but as his financial situation got worse, he finally gave it. It surprised Daniel how easy it all was. He barely saw the cash, the accountants handled it all.  Daniel took a thirty percent cut, enough to solve his problems and expand.</p><p> </p><p>It continued like that for four years. Then one day a chance encounter with a contact of Daniel’s new business associates got him thinking. Daniel was playing the middleman, a bit part in a larger story. He wanted more. He was sick of just taking what was given to him, sitting by and waiting for others to hand him things. </p><p> </p><p>So, he had acted. He’d made contacts, used all his charm and salesman skills; built a network. Bit by bit, month by month his part became bigger. Then one day Daniel convinced the right person he was the one to trust with their supply chain. He had taken over. His business associate saw the writing was on the wall and ran before he was forcibly removed. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel had been thirty-one. He quickly realised that he could be ruthless, knew what he wanted and, as he saw his business expand, he didn’t stand for anyone getting in his way. He gained a reputation. On the outside he was the perfect upper-middle-class car salesman, selling cars to the rich of LA, a respected member of the community. Behind closed doors, it was all a front for something much bigger. The car sales were real but it wasn’t funding his lifestyle.</p><p> </p><p>Drugs had quickly become his main source of income. It was like sitting at the top of a giant pyramid scheme. Daniel managed the supply out of Central America, sold down and the dealers at the bottom of the pile took all the risks. They all thought that one day they would work their way up to the top, saw themselves as little Scarfaces in the making, but the life of a dealer on the street was short and cheap. Most were dead before they moved up the next rung of the ladder and there was always another to take their place.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel sat in his large office at his car dealership and watched other people run around on his behalf. He stepped in when he needed to. Like tonight. Daniel had quickly learned that to be respected, occasionally he had to do the dirty work. He needed people to fear him.</p><p> </p><p>Tonight had been about sending a message, the three who had been stupid enough to let themselves be robbed of <em>his</em> property. The next time they screwed up they wouldn’t walk away and they now had the scars to remind them.</p><p> </p><p>The microwave finished and Daniel sat down to eat. Johnny had ordered from Daniel’s favourite Turkish restaurant. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel had spent years thinking about Johnny Lawrence. If he was honest with himself, he was in love from the moment they first met that day on the beach. He wasn’t sure what a shrink would say about him falling in love with his schoolyard bully, but Johnny had stirred something in Daniel that never went away. </p><p> </p><p>He had only ever been with men and had a type. Blond. Young. Not obscenely young, but young enough that he would think about red leather and black headbands as he fucked them. </p><p> </p><p>Then one day it had dawned on Daniel that he could have whatever he wanted. He was Daniel LaRusso and whatever he demanded, someone would go out and find it for him. He had wanted Johnny Lawrence. And they had found him, running a karate dojo in Reseda. Daniel had been conflicted. He could have sent someone out for Johnny, had them bring Johnny to him. But Daniel had decided he wanted Johnny willing, hadn't wanted the man fighting him. He had arranged a run in, had arranged for Johnny’s car to get wrecked and for it to be brought to LaRusso Autos. The rest was history.</p><p> </p><p>He loved Johnny; he really did in his own way. The way he loved his penthouse apartment, his luxury cars, and the fear that his staff felt for him. The difference between love and ownership had become lost to Daniel a long time ago.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Back on the streets. Johnny hated the dealers. Most crimes in the city could be chalked up to drugs. Pawnshops full of stolen goods. Murders over money and turf. Children groomed to take all the risks. Johnny had seen them all. And the bosses never saw any of that. They never got their hands dirty. He hated them the most.</p><p> </p><p>He watched the car. It had been in the neighbourhood for days. He didn’t need his heightened senses to know what they were up to. They were so obvious. He would follow them to the docks, watch the collections from the sea of anonymous shipping containers, see them go to their new home, where they would be broken down and sold down the line until they reached the local dealers. Johnny knew he needed to intercept those cars.</p><p> </p><p>The car Johnny was targeting was in his sight. It was moving down the backstreets. He wanted it to be away from the main roads, as few innocent bystanders as possible if the worst happened.</p><p> </p><p>The car turned right. He moved quickly, following it. He cut down an alley and began to run. Johnny reached the next street long before the car. He kept his head down as it passed him.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny saw where it was going and knew his moment was close. He looked around and ran. He turned off down another alley and turned right back onto the side street. </p><p> </p><p>He stepped out in front of the car. The car stopped, the tires squealing in the tarmac as it did. </p><p> </p><p>Someone leaned out of the window. ‘Get the fuck out of the road’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny didn’t respond, stood his ground.</p><p> </p><p>‘Hey, fuckwit. Get out of the goddamn road!’ The voices shouted again.</p><p> </p><p>He looked at the drivers but didn’t respond. He knew what they were about to do and braced himself.</p><p> </p><p>The driver put his foot on the accelerator and the car came towards him. Johnny put his arms out in front of him. The car hit him, the impact travelling up his arms, but the car stopped dead. </p><p> </p><p>The driver hit the steering wheel and the back of the car lifted with the force, its front wheels spinning. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny pushed and the car skidded backwards.</p><p> </p><p>‘Who the fuck is this guy?!’ Someone from inside the car shouted. </p><p> </p><p>The car doors opened and they got out, ready for a fight. The first one came at Johnny, a bat raised over his head. Johnny sidestepped it and put his foot down on the bat, knocking it from the man’s hand. He threw a punch and the guy flew across the road. He didn’t get up. The second man watched his friend’s head hit the pavement and looked at Johnny.</p><p> </p><p>‘Fuck that’ he said. The man ran away. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny let the man go. He moved towards the abandoned car, towards its rear. He popped the trunk and looked inside. There were three duffel bags. He unzipped the first one and saw bundles of cash and two handguns. Johnny took the guns and put them inside his jacket. </p><p> </p><p>The second and third duffle bags held square bundles wrapped in plastic. Bricks of powder, ready for distribution. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny got into the driver’s seat. The keys had been left in the ignition. He started the car and drove away.</p><p> </p><p>He drove the car to the seafront and climbed out, leaving the hand brake off. Johnny pushed the car, rolling it easily into the ocean. He took the two pistols from his jacket and threw them out as far as he could.</p><p> </p><p>He turned and began to walk home.</p><p> </p><p>*************************** </p><p> </p><p>A man held the phone away from his ear as a voice shouted down the other end. </p><p> </p><p>‘You fucking what!?’ The voice shouted.</p><p> </p><p>He flinched. ‘I’m sorry. He came out of nowhere. He lifted the fucking car!’</p><p> </p><p>‘I don’t give a shit. Where the fuck are the bags?!’</p><p> </p><p>He stuttered. ‘They were in the car. I don’t know what happened to them’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel hung up. He was sick of hearing idiots and their excuses. He was going to put an end to this himself.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Show me that again’ Daniel leaned in closer to the computer screen. ‘What the hell is that?’</p><p> </p><p>‘That’s what we have been trying to tell you, boss. There is something up with this guy.’</p><p> </p><p>The screen was dark and pixelated. The security camera had only caught the back of the car, the man in front of the car offscreen. They watch the car stop and suddenly jerk backwards. Moments later a body flies into the frame and is seen landing on the road. He doesn’t get up. They watch a figure investigate the trunk and the car disappears out of shot.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel backed away from the screen and took his glasses off, rubbing his eyes. He’s tired. </p><p> </p><p>‘So, you’re telling me that this guy stops the car and just pushes it away?’ He asked incredulously. </p><p> </p><p>‘That’s what they’re saying’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel sat back in his chair. He closed the laptop. ‘And the car?’ </p><p> </p><p>‘We don’t know what happened to the car. Or the bags’.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel slammed his hand on the desk, causing the man in front of him to jump. ‘This fucking guy steals my drugs and my money and no one knows who or where the fuck he is’ He pointed aggressively at the man. ‘And your fucking guy runs away and lets him take it?!’</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah… well… they tried to fight him, but he went fucking mental. Threw my guy across a street. What were they gonna do?’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel splayed his hands wide. ‘I don’t know. Fucking shoot him maybe?’ He said sarcastically.</p><p> </p><p>The man was silent. He knew better than to argue. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel leant back in his chair. He looked at his hands for a moment, thinking. He eventually looked up at the man, pointed at him. He’s calm.</p><p> </p><p>‘You are gonna find out who this guy is. I wanna know who he is and I want my fucking money back, you understand. Find out who he is. Tell your men that if I hear that they ran from this guy again, I am going to deal with them myself. And I am a lot more fucking scary than some prick running around in the dark’</p><p> </p><p>The man nodded.</p><p> </p><p>‘Get out’ Daniel dismissed him.</p><p> </p><p>The other man collected the laptop quickly and left the room. He passed a woman in the doorway, who watched him scurry away.</p><p> </p><p>She knocked softly on the door.</p><p> </p><p>‘Can I come in?’ She asked with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel’s face broke into an easy smile. ‘Amanda. Yes, come in.’</p><p> </p><p>She entered the room and sat opposite her boss; doesn't wait to be invited. Amanda had worked for Daniel for ten years. She was his most senior and accomplished salesperson and one of the very few people whose judgement Daniel trusted apart from his own, the only one who he saw taking over the business when he decided to retire to the beach somewhere with Johnny. </p><p> </p><p>‘So, I hear that you are having issues with some vigilante nut job’ she says casually.</p><p> </p><p>He paused. ‘Vigilante?’ He asked, confused.</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah. That’s what he is, isn’t he? Steals from your men. We know the drugs are not ending up back on the street, so what is he doing with them?’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel paused. ‘What do you mean?’</p><p> </p><p>‘The drugs. They’re specific to your supplier. If someone else was dealing them, we would know. This guy stinks of vigilante,’ she commented. ‘He’s not selling them on.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked at her, fingers faced together in front of her. ‘Fuck’</p><p> </p><p>‘Mmm-hmm,’ she said, nodding, knowing smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>He leant forward. ‘You think so?’</p><p> </p><p>‘I would stake a bet on it. You wanna find this guy, you bring him out of hiding.’ Amanda stood to leave Daniel to his thoughts. She stopped. ‘How’s Johnny?’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel’s face softened and he smiled. ‘He’s great. The dojo is doing really well. Hoping to bring home a few trophies in the tournament this year,’ he said with pride.</p><p> </p><p>‘How about dinner one night, the three of us? My treat’ she said with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>‘Sounds great’</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Daniel was quiet, his chin resting in his hand. Johnny watched him. He had seen how stressed Daniel had been recently. When Daniel was upset it was like a cloud over the whole apartment. </p><p> </p><p>‘Hey,’ he said, a little too loudly.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked at his partner, eyes tired. ‘Oh, god, I’m sorry, Johnny. What were you saying?’ </p><p> </p><p>Johnny sighed. ‘It doesn’t matter. Is everything OK? You've been in a sulk for days’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel smiled. ‘I don’t sulk’ he said.</p><p> </p><p>‘You could win an Olympic medal in sulking’ Johnny replied, voice full of affection.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel took his hand away from his chin and reached out to grasp his partner’s hand. ‘How about when I’ve dealt with this work issue, we get away for a few days? Somewhere quiet where we can relax and spend some quality time together?’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny squeezed his hand. ‘That sounds great’ He picked up his beer. ‘So, tell me about this work problem. Anything I can help with?’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel shook his head. ‘Oh, this guy is giving us problems. Some guy trying to mess with the business. I’m deciding what to do’</p><p> </p><p>‘Oh yeah. What does Amanda suggest?’ Johnny asked.</p><p> </p><p>‘She thinks I should get tough. Pull the rug out from under this guy’ </p><p> </p><p>‘Well, I would listen to her, man. Amanda is right about most things.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked thoughtful. ‘Maybe’ </p><p> </p><p>‘Remember what you always said to me. It’s not personal, it’s business. Just do what you need to do if this guy is causing you problems’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel nodded. He got up and walked out of the room, leaving Johnny to clear up from their dinner. He needed to think.</p><p> </p><p>***********************</p><p> </p><p>Outside the apartment, Daniel made a call. He enjoyed his evening walks but where they were meant to be relaxing, often he just used them to make phone calls. He didn’t like to bring his work into the apartment.</p><p> </p><p>‘Do what we need to do. Bring this guy out of hiding. Lead him to the warehouse and have everyone there. If you can, find out who he works for, but if he wants to fight, just kill him’</p><p> </p><p>‘Yes, boss’</p><p> </p><p>‘As soon as you can. Figure something out’</p><p> </p><p>‘We’ll let you know when it’s done’</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The nights had been quiet. Johnny could sense something was happening but the streets were devoid of action. The usual muggings, kids beating on other kids, but nothing that explained the feeling that he should be on his guard. It pulled on the back of his mind. It was giving him a headache, making him feel tired.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny left and walked home. It was early but he didn’t like the feeling. He felt like he should get off the street.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel was still on edge. Whatever was bothering him was still there and they had argued the night before. Johnny hated Daniel when he was angry and had learnt to keep out of the other man's way. But sometimes the large apartment felt too small for Johnny <em>and</em> Daniel's temper.</p><p> </p><p>The lights were on. Daniel was home. As Johnny entered the apartment, he could smell the familiar smells of Daniel’s cooking. If Daniel was cooking Johnny knew he would be in a better mood. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel stood at the stove with a smile on his face. Johnny moved behind him, kissing him on the cheek, slowly moving the kiss down the man’s jawline and towards his neck.</p><p> </p><p>‘Mmmmm…evening’ Daniel said, eyes closed at the feel of Johnny’s lips. Johnny knew how much the man loved to have his neck kissed.</p><p> </p><p>‘How was your day?’ Johnny murmured into his skin, breathing in his aftershave. Even when Daniel was at his worst, that smell always reminded Johnny of home.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel turned and kissed him. ‘Good. Johnny, I want to apologise. Work had got me all stressed and I took it out on you’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny smiled; his smile slightly strained. ‘It’s OK. I know how hard you work’ he said. They kissed and Daniel turned back to his cooking.</p><p> </p><p>‘Did you figure out that work problem?’ Johnny asked, opening a bottle of beer.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel stirred the sauce. ‘I did. Should all be sorted soon’ he said. </p><p> </p><p>‘Good’ Johnny kissed him on the cheek and moved into the living room. He breathed a little easier.</p><p> </p><p>************************</p><p> </p><p>Johnny was down on the docks. It was another eerily quiet night. He looked down on the world below him. Goods moved throughout the night, trucks rumbling in and out, huge metal containers being lifted on and off the ships that waited there. It was like an intricate dance on an industrial level. Johnny could happily watch for hours from his vantage point on the roof.</p><p> </p><p>That feeling that something was happening was still there but after days of no activity, Johnny was relaxed. He had learned to listen to his senses but he knew that sometimes his own anxieties knocked them off. Daniel had been stressed and it had been playing on Johnny’s mind. He knew it was making him unnecessarily edgy. </p><p> </p><p>A woman’s scream pierced the night air. Johnny turned his head and looked towards the warehouses behind him. He watched, listening. </p><p> </p><p>There was a gasp and a cry, the noise travelling across the roofs.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny stood and walked across the roof, listening, trying to figure out where it had come from. He moved to the far edge and looked down. Nothing below him. Johnny looked at the opposite roof, judging the distance. He jumped and landed quietly. </p><p> </p><p>He stood and waited. Silence. And then a cry.</p><p> </p><p>‘No! Please stop!’ It was clear and coming from a warehouse to his left. Johnny jumped to the road and looked around.</p><p> </p><p>‘No, don’t. Please’ The voice sounded afraid, desperate. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny ran towards the sound, entering a dark warehouse. He stopped, listening. Something nagged in the back of his mind, telling him to stop. He paused. Something was wrong, he knew it. That feeling that had been haunting him for days was now like an alarm bell in his head. He turned, intending to leave. </p><p> </p><p>‘Someone help….’ The cry was cut off and there was the shuffle of feet. A struggle.</p><p> </p><p> He paused. Could he leave? What if he was wrong? The alarm bell was more urgent. Something wasn’t right, he was in danger. He knew it. </p><p> </p><p>The sound of a sob echoed down the corridor. The woman was crying. He couldn’t ignore it. Johnny moved, through the warehouse and down a corridor. The corridor opened to a large room. He stopped. The room was full of pallets loaded with boxes.</p><p> </p><p>The crying had stopped. Johnny’s senses flared a moment before he was hit. A heavy metal chain was thrown across his back and he staggered. It hit him again and he cried out, falling to the ground. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny rolled onto his back and someone stepped towards him, a metal pole raised. It came down, hitting Johnny square in the stomach. The wind went out of him and his body curled up around the impact. He tasted blood in his mouth. </p><p> </p><p>He crawled onto his hands and knees. The metal pole hit him across the shoulders, sending him sprawling back onto his stomach.</p><p> </p><p>There were three men. Johnny looked around him. A woman was holding a baseball bat. She was smiling. They had lured him here! He struggled to his feet, dodging another blow from the chain by centimetres. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny was on his feet, injured but moving. He knew he had to run. Johnny headed towards the door. </p><p> </p><p>Another man stepped out from behind a box. Johnny felt the blow to his torso. He looked down. There was blood. The man was holding a long hunting knife. Johnny’s blood dripped from it. The man lunged again and Johnny tried to turn away from the blade. It entered his right side, under the rips. Johnny gasped as he felt the twist of the knife inside the wound.</p><p> </p><p>The man was wearing brass knuckles and hit Johnny in the face, opening a wound in his cheek.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny cried out and fell to one knee. He was bleeding badly. He had to get out of there, knew he was going to die if he didn’t move. They were surrounding him. He did the only thing he could and jumped directly upwards. </p><p> </p><p>‘Fuck!’ Someone shouted as Johnny hit a walkway in the roof hard, twenty meters above them, the sound of him hitting metal loud. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny started to run, staggering against the pain, clutching at the worst wound under his ribs. He ran to the end of the walkway and threw himself out of a window, onto the roof, glass in his hair. He heard shouts as he ran down a fire exit and onto the street.</p><p> </p><p>There were voices and footsteps down the side of the warehouse. Johnny ran. He picked up speed and by the time they came round the corner, he was gone.</p><p> </p><p>**************************</p><p> </p><p>Daniel picked up the phone. ‘Is it done?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Boss, we hit a problem. This fucking guy is not normal’ the voice on the other end of the line.</p><p> </p><p>‘What do you mean, not normal?’ Daniel said, jaw clenched. They had told him they could handle this!</p><p> </p><p>‘We hit him multiple times and he got up. And then he fucking jumped, like, really fucking far. He’s hurt but this guy, he’s something else. He isn’t fucking human’</p><p> </p><p>‘What the fuck are you talking about?! I gave you one goddamn job! Did he get away?!’ Daniel was shouting down his phone.</p><p> </p><p>‘He ran, we couldn’t catch him. This guy’s fast, man’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel hung up, sick of listening to excuses. He put his phone down on the coffee table and sat back, his feet on the table. He kicked the table with anger.</p><p> </p><p>***********************</p><p> </p><p>He was exhausted. Johnny stopped running, breathing heavily. He collapsed onto the floor, leaning against a wall.</p><p> </p><p>There was blood on his hands. He pulled his t-shirt up and moaned as he saw the wounds on his torso. They were deep, really deep. He needed to get somewhere safe until he could heal. He was going to bleed out on the street if he didn’t.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t go to the hospital. He just needed to get off the street. </p><p> </p><p>No one had been able to get the drop on him before. They had set a trap; had been waiting for him. He groaned and held his side. He should have listened to his senses. He shouldn’t have gone in there.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny staggered to his feet. He put his hand on the wall and let out a long breath. He had to get someone safe.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny turned towards home, walking fast, his hands over his wounds, trying to stem the bleeding. He needed to get home. Daniel would help him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The door was thrown open, making Daniel jump. He stood and moved quickly to the hallway. He could hear heavy breathing. </p><p> </p><p>‘Johnny!’ he cried, running to his partner. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny closed the door behind him and collapsed onto the floor. He was bleeding heavily, clutching his side. Daniel crouched down next to him.</p><p> </p><p>‘Johnny! What on earth happened?’ Daniel asked. He looked at his partner. Johnny’s face was swollen, his cheek bleeding. He was covered in blood and holding his stomach. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny moaned as Daniel moved his hands to look at his wound. It bled onto the floor and Johnny put his hands quickly back to it. He had two stab wounds, one on the front of his stomach and one to the side. The skin was torn and hanging open. As Daniel pulled Johnny’s t-shirt up, he could see a large mark on Johnny’s stomach, the red of internal bleeding clear under the skin.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel grabbed a towel from the kitchen and knelt in front of him, attempting to stem the blood. ‘Johnny, we need to call an ambulance. Tell me what happened. Who hurt you?’</p><p> </p><p>‘No, no hospital. Go to our room, there’s a box under the bed. There’s some first aid stuff. Just patch me up.’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked at him astonished. ‘Johnny, you can’t just put a plaster on this! We are going to the hospital’</p><p> </p><p>‘No, Daniel. Please just help and I’ll tell you everything.’ Johnny pleaded ‘I’m gonna be OK, I promise. Just get the box from under the bed’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked at him and turned, hurrying to their bedroom. He reached under the bed and found a plastic box, the lid held with two clip fastenings. The box was full of bandages, some small, some large, strong painkillers, hypodermic needles. It looked more like something that would supply an ER department than a household first aid kit.</p><p> </p><p>When he came back, Johnny was looking more relaxed, sitting at the kitchen table. He had pulled his t-shirt off and was using it to clean off the blood on his skin. Daniel winced at the amount of bruising that covered his partner’s body. Daniel crouched in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>‘Who did this? I’ll fucking kill them’ He meant it. As soon as Johnny was safe, he was going to hunt down whoever had hurt his partner and rip them apart. He was furious. Someone was going to pay for this!</p><p> </p><p> ‘It’s OK. Look, the bleeding has already stopped’ he said gently.</p><p> </p><p>And he was right. Daniel looked at the wound. It was no longer bleeding. He sat back on his heels. </p><p> </p><p>‘It must not have been as deep as it looked. But there was a lot of blood, Johnny. Are you sure you don’t need a doctor?’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny just shook his head. He looked at his partner. Johnny stood and walked to the living room. Daniel followed him. He saw the marks across Johnny's back, deep red gashes, as if someone had slashed at him with something. </p><p> </p><p>He gasped. ‘Johnny, who did this? What the hell happened?’ he said as Johnny sat down on the sofa.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at him for a moment and sighed. ‘Daniel, I need to talk to you about something. It’s going to sound crazy but I need you to listen’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel sat on the chair. ‘OK,’ he said, face filled with confusion.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny took his hand and squeezed it. ‘I love you and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner’ He let go of Daniel’s hand and ran his hand through his hair. He was nervous.</p><p> </p><p>‘Uh….OK. You need to know something about me. I’m...uh…. not like normal people. These wounds, they are going to head, like, really quickly. More quickly than on normal people’</p><p> </p><p>‘What are you talking about, Johnny?’ Daniel said, exasperated.</p><p> </p><p>‘I’m telling you that I’m not like normal people. I can heal, I’m strong, I’m fast, like, abnormally fast. I always have been. I think I got it from my Dad. He was the same’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel just stared at him. His partner had gone mad!</p><p> </p><p>‘I’ve been going out, helping people. I’ve been doing it for years. It’s normally not a problem, I get beat up a bit but I heal, and I help people!’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel snorted. ‘You’ve been reading too many comic books,’ he said, incredulously.</p><p> </p><p>‘Daniel, I can help people so I do. Like, people getting mugged, beaten up and shit. I step in. And there were these guys, these big-time drug dealers. They’ve been moving a lot of stuff around and it ends up being dealt in the parks, really stepping things up, you know. I pissed them off. I destroyed some of their stash a couple of nights ago. They lured me to some warehouses and jumped me’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel stopped. He turned his head slowly, looked at his partner. ‘What did you say?’</p><p> </p><p>‘I pissed off these drug dealers and they jumped me. They were gonna kill me, so I ran’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel stood perfectly still. ‘You’re telling me that you have been messing with local dealers?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah, man. I stole their car and I dumped a load of their drugs in the sea. They knew how to get me, one of them pretended to be hurt and they attacked me’</p><p> </p><p>‘And you ran?’ Daniel asked, started to pace, thinking.</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah. I jumped onto the roof and just ran. That’s another thing, I can jump really far’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel was silent, still pacing. Johnny watched him.</p><p> </p><p>‘I’m telling the truth, I promise. I know this sounds crazy’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel didn’t look up from his thoughts, waved his hand. ‘Yeah, I believe you. I’m just thinking’ </p><p> </p><p>Johnny let him think. He looked at his partner's face. Daniel looked calmer, calmer than Johnny had expected him to be. He was deep in thought.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel finally spoke, stopped pacing. ‘And this healing. How long does it take?’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny shrugged. ‘Day or so’</p><p> </p><p>‘And how are you now?’ Daniel looked him up and down.</p><p> </p><p>‘Weak. Tired. The healing really takes it out of me. I’m gonna need to sleep for a while.’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel nodded. ‘OK, Johnny. You go and rest. I’ll come and check on you. Let me think about this. This is a lot to take in.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny nodded, standing. He put his hands on Daniel’s arms and looked at him. ‘Thank you, Daniel, for believing me’ He kissed his partner and smiled. Daniel smiled at Johnny as he walked away.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny left the room and as the door closed behind him, the smile fell off Daniel’s face. Daniel leaned back against the wall. He sighed.</p><p> </p><p>‘Johnny, why the fuck did it have to be you’ he muttered to himself, running his hands over his face.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel went into the kitchen where he had left his phone. He picked it up, staring at its screen. </p><p> </p><p>It was Johnny. This whole time. Stealing from him! He gripped the phone in his hands, his knuckles white. Daniel was angry. His partner of five years had betrayed him. He had given Johnny everything. He had taken care of Johnny, brought him into his home, away from that shithole in Reseda. Johnny had been nothing before Daniel and this was how he was repaid. </p><p> </p><p>He had the sudden urge to go into the bedroom, show Johnny exactly how Daniel LaRusso dealt with betrayal. His pistol was in the safe. It would be so easy. The thought of putting a bullet in the man’s head broke his heart a little, but he knew he would do it if he had to.</p><p> </p><p>Then again, what Johnny had told him, the healing, the speed, the strength. It sounded like the ravings of a madman who had watched too many movies. But it fitted with what Daniel had been told. Those stab wounds should have killed him. He had seen the security video of the car; the man being thrown across the street as if he was a rag doll.</p><p> </p><p>Was this too much of an opportunity to turn down? Would Daniel be foolish to put someone down before he really understood what he had on his hands?</p><p> </p><p>He looked through his contacts.</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah, it’s me. No…. No…. Shut up! I’ve found him……. No questions. Come to my apartment. Yeah...bring them all’</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Johnny groaned as he laid out on the bed. He was exhausted. He had been stabbed before, shot at but this time he was really hurt. He closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep. </p><p> </p><p>Something woke him. Johnny was disorientated. He knew he had been asleep but not how long. Something was wrong, he could feel it. Danger. Johnny could feel it radiating through the walls. Daniel. Daniel was angry. But not like normal. Daniel wasn't just losing his temper. This was a different type of anger. Controlled.</p><p> </p><p>The apartment was quiet. Johnny listened. He fought sleep, closing his eyes, trying to understand what he was feeling. At first, he thought it was confusion he was feeling from Daniel. Then fear. But no. It was anger. </p><p> </p><p>He sat on the edge of the bed. He stood slowly and looked at the door. He moved closer to the door. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel stood on the other side of the door. Three men stood in the living room. One moved. Daniel raised his hand silently and the man stopped.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at the door. He knew Daniel was on the other side, knew it as if he could see him. Johnny was scared. He was injured, weakened, and Daniel wanted to hurt him. He didn’t know why but he knew it. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel moved closer to the door and nodded to one of the men, who passed him a needle of strong sedatives. Daniel had no idea what it was, he had just asked for the strongest sedatives they could get their hands on with short notice. He moved and stood against the wall to the right of the door. </p><p> </p><p>It was a standoff. Johnny put his hand to the door.</p><p> </p><p>‘Johnny’ Daniel said loudly. ‘You need to come out.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny jumped at the sound of Daniel’s voice and stepped away from the door. ‘What’s going on, man?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Just come out. We can talk’</p><p> </p><p>‘Daniel, what’s wrong?’ Johnny called through the door.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel waved to one of his men, gesturing for him to move down the corridor. The man stood on the other side of the door. Daniel didn’t know much about what he was dealing with, he knew Johnny was injured but he wasn’t taking his chances. If what his men had said was true, Johnny could cause them a problem. </p><p> </p><p>‘Daniel. Tell me what’s going on?’ Johnny called again through the door. </p><p> </p><p>‘You should have minded your business, Johnny. Left things alone’ Daniel called back. ‘Open the door and we’ll talk.’ </p><p> </p><p>There was silence and Daniel had a thought. Johnny may try to get out another way. He looked towards the two men in the living room and gestured towards the door, pointed downwards. One gave the thumbs up and ran out. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny stepped away from the door and looked around. He glanced at the window. He was still injured but he needed to get out of the apartment. He moved to the window and rolled the blinds up. He looked down at the quiet street below. </p><p> </p><p>‘Johnny’ </p><p> </p><p>Johnny turned towards the door at the sound of Daniel’s voice in the hall. He turned back to the window and pushed it open, feeling the cool breeze of the night air. He was ten stories up. He had made a ten-story jump before but not with an open wound, not while healing. He didn’t know if he would survive it. But it was still better than what was on the other side of the bedroom door.</p><p> </p><p>He took one last look at the door and climbed onto the ledge and jumped. Johnny grunted as he hit the ground and rolled. </p><p> </p><p>He rolled on his side, crying out in pain, but he was down, Johnny stood quickly, clutching his wounds. He looked around and turned to run.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny ran straight into the man waiting for him. The man grabbed him, holding his arms and another came up behind Johnny. Johnny felt the prick of a needle and fell. </p><p> </p><p>The world started to spin as he dropped to his knees and then down onto all fours. He shook his head out, trying to clear the fog. The man’s feet were in front of him. He put his hands on his knees and tried to stand, staggering like he was drunk. </p><p> </p><p>Another prick on his neck and Johnny went down again. This time he didn’t get up.</p><p> </p><p>They looked at the man lying on the concrete, checking around them for witnesses. One took his phone out of his pocket. He dialled.</p><p> </p><p>‘Boss, we’re outside. We’ve got him’</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing he registered was the smell around him. There was the smell of damp and metal. The second thing he registered was that his body ached all over. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny was woozy, he had a dull thudding headache. He tried to open his eyes, the action immediately making him wince. </p><p> </p><p>There was sudden panic. He couldn’t see!</p><p> </p><p>As his mind cleared, he realised he was in the dark. He could see a faint line of white light under a door in front of him. </p><p> </p><p>He tried to move but was held tight. He was secured to something. He struggled but he was still so weak. Johnny opened his mouth. His throat was dry. </p><p> </p><p>‘Hey! Someone help!’ Johnny croaked into the darkness. His voice echoed in the metal room, sounding painfully loud to his pounding head. He swallowed, tried to work some saliva into his mouth. He tried to shout. ‘Please! Anyone!’ </p><p> </p><p>There was no answer. He tried to think but his mind was still foggy. Johnny was scared. He was alone in the dark and couldn’t move. Daniel. What did Daniel have to do with it?</p><p> </p><p>He closed his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>**************************</p><p> </p><p>The scream of metal moving against metal made Johnny start, his eyes opening. Light flooded the room and Johnny squinted against it. He had been in the dark for so long that the light blinded him.</p><p> </p><p>The door closed and lights came on, bright white strip lights. A man walked towards him, middle-aged with greying hair. The man looked tired and weary of him as he moved closer.</p><p> </p><p>‘Hey! Hey!’ Johnny said to the man who moved closer. ‘Please help me.’ </p><p> </p><p>The man glanced at him, made eye contact, and looked away quickly. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny was angry. ‘Hey, don’t fucking ignore me. Where am I? What’s going on, man?’</p><p> </p><p>He began to struggle. He was weaker from his injuries but still stronger than any man. He pulled his wrists apart, felt the restraints start to move. Whatever was holding him was giving. </p><p> </p><p>The other man walked towards him, needle in his hand. Without a word or another look at Johnny, he put the needle in Johnny’s arm. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny started to feel faint again, his body feeling heavy. ‘What did you stick me with?’ He said, his voice slurred.</p><p> </p><p>The man moved towards Johnny and released one arm. Johnny looked down. He tried to move but his limbs were so heavy, like lead. </p><p> </p><p>He watched, eyes unfocused, as the man put a butterfly needle in his vein and connected a tube. The tube flooded with blood. He watched, helpless, as the man took a vial, and then a second.</p><p> </p><p>‘Stop, please’ Johnny pleaded as the man took a third.</p><p> </p><p>The other man just looked up at him and then looked away. He removed the needle and collected the vials. Johnny’s arm was moved back to the other and secured. The man lifted Johnny’s t-shirt and Johnny jumped as he felt a cold hand touch his torso.</p><p> </p><p>The hand was removed and Johnny struggled as the man came towards him with another needle.</p><p> </p><p>‘I’m sorry,’ the man said, the first words he had spoken to him, before he pushed it into Johnny’s arm. </p><p> </p><p>The man turned and walked away and Johnny heard that same sound of a metal sound of metal opening, that same bright light. The door closed and Johnny was left in the dark moments before passing out.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Two chapters for the price of one today :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The doctor looked through a microscope, the other man pacing behind him.</p><p> </p><p>‘So? What’s going on here? What is he?’</p><p> </p><p>The grey-haired man turned in his chair. He considered Daniel for a moment. He sighed and spoke.</p><p> </p><p>‘I don’t know. Your boyfriend’s got some very weird blood. Nothing I recognise.’ He turned back to the microscope. ‘You say he was stabbed?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah. Twice. He was pissing blood everywhere and then it just stopped. He said he can heal?’</p><p> </p><p>‘I checked his stab wounds. It’s the strangest thing. Are you sure he was stabbed?’ The doctor asked.</p><p> </p><p>‘Yes!’ Daniel cried angrily, frustrated. ‘I saw it myself.’</p><p> </p><p>The doctor jumped at the sound of Daniel raising his voice. ‘Then yeah, he’s healing himself somehow. Those stab wounds are almost gone. You would hardly know anything had happened.', He looked back to the microscope again. ‘You’re gonna need to leave me with this. I want to do some more tests’</p><p> </p><p>‘Thank Doc’ Daniel patted him on the shoulder and turned to walk away. </p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah,’ the man just muttered. He turned quickly before the man left. ‘Oh, those handcuffs. They’re not gonna hold him unless you wanna keep drugging him. I’d prefer it if he wasn’t full of that stuff, it’s gonna tamper with my results’</p><p> </p><p>‘Sure doc. What do you need?’ Daniel asked. </p><p> </p><p>‘It would be useful if I can see how he heals for myself’ the doctor said thoughtfully.</p><p> </p><p>Right, OK. I can do that.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel turned to leave again.</p><p> </p><p>‘Hey!’ The doctor called as Daniel got to the door. ‘You’re not gonna hurt him, are you?’ The man looked hesitant. ‘I didn’t sign up for this, you know’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel smiled, not friendly. ‘You want your money; you sign up to what I say.’</p><p> </p><p>The doctor watched the door closed. He went back to his tests.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He woke in the dark. Johnny tried to move. It was different this time. There was something around his neck. He moved his head forward and felt it against his throat, solid metal.</p><p> </p><p>He pulled on the restraints of his arms and there was some give but nothing else. These weren’t handcuffs. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny tried to move his legs. He was sitting, his ankles secured through the legs of the chair, his arms behind him and his neck secured. He tried to pull against them all, crying out with frustration as nothing moved.</p><p> </p><p>The room was still dark but Johnny’s head was starting to clear and the aches had gone. He assumed that his wounds had healed but he had a bigger problem. Someone had taken his blood. He didn’t know who but he could imagine why. Someone wanted to know about him, what he was. He almost wondered himself what they would find. </p><p> </p><p>He had managed to keep the secret for so long. Now not only did people know but somewhere someone was examining his blood.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny sat in the dark. He waited. He knew someone was coming</p><p> </p><p>**************************</p><p> </p><p>His head lifted at the familiar sound of metal on metal. The door opened. No bright light this time. He knew he must be seeing the outside. The lights were there but dimmer. Artificial lights in the dark rather than daylight.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel stepped into the room, pulling the door closed behind him. ‘Hi, Johnny’</p><p> </p><p>He pulled the door shut and turned on the overhead light. Johnny squinted against it. </p><p> </p><p>‘Daniel, please. What’s going on? Where am I?’ Johnny asked. He pulled against the restraints. They held fast.</p><p> </p><p>‘You can fight Johnny, but even you can’t get out of those. Steel encased in tungsten. Strongest metals in the world. Worth a fortune but they will pay for themselves if they can hold you’ </p><p> </p><p>Johnny’s eyes followed Daniel as he paced the room. Daniel seemed to be thinking. He turned to Johnny and took a chair from against the wall. He pulled his suit jacket off, hanging it on the back of the chair before sitting down opposite Johnny. He loosened his tie as he looked at the man,</p><p> </p><p>‘What the fuck, man? How can you do this? I love you, Daniel. I thought you loved me’ Johnny asked. </p><p> </p><p>The two men had been together five years and now they both looked at each other, realising they had no idea who the other was.</p><p> </p><p>‘You interfered with my business. You should have just kept out of it’ Daniel said, shaking his head. ‘You just wouldn’t stop’</p><p> </p><p>‘You’re business? What the fuck is going on? You’re a fucking car salesman’ Johnny said, voice full of confused desperation. ‘I... I didn’t get involved with anything; I was trying to help people.’</p><p> </p><p>‘Those were my guys you stole from. <em>My</em> drugs. <em>My</em> money!’ Daniel hissed at him. ‘How could you be so stupid, to get involved in something you hadn’t the first clue about?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Then tell me! Tell me what I got involved in! Because I thought I was living with Daniel LaRusso. Fucking car dealer, not Daniel LaRusso the drug dealer!’</p><p> </p><p>‘You were. I am that Daniel. But Johnny’ he said, his voice gentle. ‘Did you really think that our money came from car sales? You drive a brand new two hundred thousand pound sports car that <em>I</em> gave you. We go on luxury holidays. Our apartment alone costs a fortune. You are happy to spend my money. Don’t pretend you didn’t know there was something else going on?’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny stared at him, open-mouthed. ‘I didn’t ask for any of that stuff. I just wanted to live with you. I love you, Daniel’’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel snorted. ‘Don’t give me that. You may not have asked for it but you were always happy to accept it. Well, now you know. I’m not going to apologise for how I make a living.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at the room around him, took in his surroundings again. He was scared. He looked back up at Daniel. ‘Look, I’m sorry OK. I got in over my head. I’ll go away, keep out of things. I’ll pretend I don’t know anything. But you’ve got to let me out of here. Please, Daniel’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel smiled sadly at his partner. ‘I’m sorry, Johnny. We’re past that now.’ He sat forward elbows on his knees. ‘And I’m not the only one keeping secrets. Tell me about you. About…. this.’ he spread his arms towards Johnny.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny hesitated. ‘I told you most of it. I don’t know what it is. I just know what I am’ Johnny answered.</p><p> </p><p>‘Where did it come from? What can you do?’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at the other man. He was unsure of how much he wanted to say. He didn’t answer.</p><p> </p><p>‘Come on, Johnny. Anything you don’t tell me I can find out. I’ve got a guy in a lab looking at you now. Trying to figure out what you are’</p><p> </p><p>That got Johnny’s attention. ‘What did he find?’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel shrugged, ‘Nothing specific yet. Just that there is something…. off about your blood sample. He should have more soon.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny nodded. He paused. He realised there was no point in hiding it. ‘I don’t know. I know I got it from my Dad. He died when I was a kid. Got himself shot trying to stop a bank robbery.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel snorted. ‘So that’s where you got the stupid idea. Some hero’ he said, voice full of contempt.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny was angry. ‘Fuck you, LaRusso. Better to die trying to do something good than sitting around like some fat cat making money off other people’s misery.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel narrowed his eyes but didn’t answer. He stood and began to walk around the room. Johnny watched him. Daniel stopped as a thought crossed his mind.</p><p> </p><p>‘So, you’re strong, right? Tell me this, Johnny. Nineteen eighty-four. I beat you. How did that happen?’ </p><p> </p><p>Johnny smiled sadly. ‘You really want to know? You may not like it’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel sat. ‘No. Tell me. I want to hear it.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny took a breath. ‘I let you win’ Johnny waited for a response, waited to see how the other man would react. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel nodded slowly. ‘You let me win?’ he said, as if feeling the words in his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah. Kreese, he wanted me to finish you. I could have ripped you to shreds. I hurt you but it wasn’t going to be enough for him. He wanted you done for. He knew what I could do. I let you fight me. That thing with your knee, that was just a tap. When we got to the end, I knew what you were doing. I saw it coming before you had even taken a leg off the floor. I let you do what you needed to do to end the match’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel didn’t respond. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny continued. ‘That’s why he was so angry with me. He knew I had done it on purpose.’</p><p> </p><p>‘And the parking lot? Kreese overpowered you?’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny paused. He thought back to that night. He hadn’t thought about it all in so many years. The memory was painful, not of what was done to him, a memory from long before that.</p><p> </p><p>‘When I was a kid, maybe six years old, some bigger kids attacked me, jumped me. I didn’t know what to do. One put his knee on my neck. They were only trying to scare me but I couldn’t breathe. I panicked and threw one of them off. He landed badly and broke his back, never walked again. I did that to him. He was just a dumb kid’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny swallowed. The memories of that child’s screams had stayed with him for a long time, haunting him. </p><p> </p><p>‘That night with Kreese. I couldn’t breathe but all I could think about was that kid and I just froze. And then your Sensei stepped in’</p><p> </p><p>The two men watched each other. Johnny expected Daniel to be angry or upset that his win all those years ago had been handed to him. At the same time, it was so long ago. Did either of them really care anymore when they had today to deal with?</p><p> </p><p>‘Daniel, you can’t hold me here forever. Even when you do get whatever answers you are looking for, what’s next. What happens to me?’ Johnny asked as calmly as he could, despite the fear. But Daniel wouldn’t truly hurt him, he couldn’t. He was angry but he wouldn’t really hurt him.</p><p> </p><p>‘When I find out what you are, I’ll decide what to do next. Imagine if someone can figure out how to use whatever it is that makes you able to do what you do? The strength, the self-healing.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel was smiling, excited by it. Johnny couldn’t believe what the man was saying. He knew Daniel must be bluffing. He would never actually…. Johnny looked for it, looked for the sense that Daniel was lying. And he couldn’t find it. He didn’t know who the man was in front of him. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny licked his lips, trying to stay calm. ‘Look, Daniel, please. You can’t just…… please. I’ll leave, I’ll go away. You won’t see me again.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel didn't answer. He took a handgun from the inside pocket of the jacket on the chair. Johnny watched as he screwed a silencer on it, not wanting to deafen them both in the enclosed space.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny started to struggle and Daniel came towards him. </p><p> </p><p>‘I’m sorry, Johnny. My guy wants to see you heal, document it. I need to do this.’</p><p> </p><p>‘You don’t need to do any of this!’ Johnny responded, watching the gun in Daniel’s hand. ‘I’m not invincible. You shoot me and I bleed out, I’m no use to you’</p><p> </p><p>‘Don’t worry. You’re not going to bleed out.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny began to beg. ‘Please, Daniel. I love you. Come on man, it’s me. Johnny. Don’t you love me?’</p><p> </p><p>‘I’m sorry, Johnny. This isn’t personal, you know.’ Daniel placed the barrel of the gun on Johnny’s shoulder and fired. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny screamed in agony as the bullet passed through the shoulder at point-blank range, shattering bone, the impact of it wrenching Johnny’s shoulder round. He closed his eyes, trying to breathe through the pain. He had been shot before, knew what it felt like. But point-blank on a joint was worse than anything he experienced before. He could feel the broken bones moving under the skin as he breathed.</p><p> </p><p>‘I’m sorry, Johnny. We need to see what happens to you. Someone will come in and patch you up and I’ll send my doctor to have a look at you’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel turned and walked away. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny’s breathing was heavy as he watched his partner, the man he loved walk away to leave him bleeding in the dark.</p><p> </p><p>‘What would Mr Miyagi say?’ He shouted at Daniel’s back, his voice trembling. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel turned.</p><p> </p><p>‘What would he say if he saw you now? Did he live to see what his student had become?’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel temper flared. ‘You don’t know anything about him!’ He stalked back towards the other man. </p><p> </p><p>‘I know enough to know he wouldn’t have wanted to see you like this,’ Johnny said. ‘He must be rolling in his grave’</p><p> </p><p>‘Shut up about Mr Miyagi. None of this has anything to do with him’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny sneered at Daniel. ‘What is it they say about bad teachers? Because whatever he did to you, he turned you into a fucking monster’ Johnny practically spat out the last work, talking through the agony.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel was in front of Johnny. He placed the gun under Johnny’s chin. He was angry but calm. ‘Oh, you haven’t seen the half of what I’m capable of’</p><p> </p><p>‘You’re just that same scrawny kid whose ass I used to kick. Just instead of little old men, now you hide behind guns and guys with no necks. You’re still the same little pussy you always were’ Johnny taunted him. ‘It’s easy to play the big man when I’m chained to the wall. If it were man on man, I would destroy you’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel smiled. He touched Johnny’s hair, making the man flinch away. ‘No, you wouldn’t’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel placed the gun on Johnny’s bent knee, facing downwards. He fired, the bullet destroying the knee joint and breaking the tibia, exiting through the calf, taking muscle with it.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny screamed in pain. It was so much worse than the shoulder. He felt like someone had ripped his leg from his body. He felt faint with the pain but couldn’t pass out. He breathed heavily through his nose, trying to control himself but the agony was too much, every breath becoming a gasp of pain.</p><p> </p><p>‘Don’t let him bleed out’ Johnny heard Daniel say to someone as he walked away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was movement in front of him and someone opened his eye, shining a light into his pupil.</p><p> </p><p>‘Who’s there?’ Johnny murmured. </p><p> </p><p>He had been alone in the dark since his shoulder and leg were bandaged up. He didn’t know how long it had been, only knew the passing of time by how the agony of his shoulder and leg had begin to slowly dissipate. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny squinted against the light in his eye. It was already making his head hurt. It disappeared.</p><p> </p><p>He felt a hand on his shoulder. Someone was looking at his injuries and removing them bandaged. The hands were gentle, gentler than the ones who had put the bandages on. He felt the person touch his injury, moving his injured shoulder. Johnny flinched away.</p><p> </p><p>‘Does it hurt?’ the voice said.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny’s eyes were closed. He licked his lips. ‘Not too bad anymore’</p><p> </p><p>‘Remarkable’ the voice breathed in wonderment. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny opened his eyes and looked at the other man. It was the same person who had taken his blood. The man looked at him, making eye contact and quickly looking away.</p><p> </p><p>‘How does it look?’ Johnny asked.</p><p> </p><p>‘It’s amazing. The bones are already healing’ the man said, voice full of amazement as he felt Johnny’s shoulder. ‘Just over twenty-four hours. I’ve never seen anything like it before.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny winced as the man squeezed his injury, trying to feel the shoulder. He looked at the man, tried to catch his eye. The man looked across at him.</p><p> </p><p>‘Please help me’ he pleaded the man.</p><p> </p><p>The other man looked away, not responding. He knelt in front of Johnny, examining his knee. Johnny saw the guilt in his eye.</p><p> </p><p>‘Please’ Johnny said again. The man looked up at him. ‘You have to help me.’</p><p> </p><p>The man looked back at his knee. ‘I can’t’ was all he said.</p><p> </p><p>‘Come on, man. You’re a doctor, aren't you? You took some kind of oath to help people. You can’t let them keep me here.’</p><p> </p><p>‘I told you, I can’t.’ He looked up with sadness at Johnny. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny breathed out as the man put his hands on his leg. ‘That one still hurts’</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah?’</p><p> </p><p>He nodded. ‘Mmmhmm’</p><p> </p><p>The man stepped away. ‘I’m sorry.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny watched the man fussing with some medical equipment and writing some notes. The man didn’t look at him. Johnny could feel the man’s guilt. It was pouring off him. He did not want to be here.</p><p> </p><p>‘Why are you doing this?’ Johnny asked.</p><p> </p><p>This got the man’s attention. He looked up. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny continued. ‘I know you hate this. Please help me. Help me get out of here. Those guys you work for, they’re dangerous’ </p><p> </p><p>He looked at Johnny. ‘I don’t have a choice’ He turned away before stopping. ‘For what it’s worth, I am sorry.’</p><p> </p><p>The man collected his instruments and his notebooks and Johnny watched him leave. As he got to the door he turned. </p><p> </p><p>‘Uh… do you want me to leave the light on?’ </p><p> </p><p>The question brought tears to Johnny’s eyes, to be shown a piece of kindness by someone. He couldn’t bear to be plunged back into the darkness.</p><p> </p><p>‘Yes, please’ he said, voice cracking.</p><p> </p><p>The man nodded and left.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I quite enjoy the comments on this fic that are along the lines of 'shit, Daniel's proper evil'. Lots of twists and turns to go so bear with me. It's not all as hopeless and grim, well, not much anyway 😉😁</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As he entered his lab, the doctor realised that Daniel was sitting at his desk. He stopped, collected his feelings, and walked into the office, placing his notebooks on the desk.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel observed him, waiting for the man to speak. After a few moments of watching the man fiddle with his books and hang his coat up, Daniel lost patience.</p><p> </p><p>‘Well?’ He snapped, frustrated.</p><p> </p><p>The man turned slowly and looked at Daniel. He exhaled. ‘You’re right. He’s healing at a remarkable rate.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel smiled. ‘Amazing isn’t it,’ he said with excitement. ‘Have you got any further with figuring out what he is?’</p><p> </p><p>The doctor shook his head. ‘Not yet. I’ve been running his blood through my programs and it doesn’t match anything we’ve ever seen before. You say he inherited it from his father?’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel shrugged. ‘That’s what he says.’</p><p> </p><p>He walked across his office. Daniel was still sitting behind the doctor’s desk but he didn’t ask the man to move and Daniel gave no indication that he was leaving. The doctor sat on a chair below the window.</p><p> </p><p>‘You’ll go back tomorrow? Check up on him again?’ Daniel asked.</p><p> </p><p>‘If I must’ the doctor said.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked at him, considering the man. ‘A problem?’ He asked, voice full of warning.</p><p> </p><p>‘No, no problem. I just….’ the doctor tailed off.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel got up and walked around the desk. He crouched down in front of the doctor and looked up at him. ‘You want your money, don’t you? Want to pay for your kids' surgery?’ </p><p> </p><p>The doctor looked at him, a pained expression on his face. He nodded. </p><p> </p><p>‘Then do your job. You’ll get your money and you never have to see me again.’ Daniel patted the doctor on the knee before turning and walking away.</p><p> </p><p>**************************</p><p> </p><p>The doctor crept into the room. The blond man was asleep, had been for most of the time he had been here. He hadn’t been drugged. The man assumed that it was something to do with the healing, tiring him.</p><p> </p><p>Over the past forty-eight hours' Johnny’s knee and shoulder had fully healed. The doctor still hadn’t figured out what this guy was. He knew where he could get more answers but hesitated to suggest it. He would be fascinated to see this guy’s stem cells, find out what was growing new cells so quickly. This would mean either a spinal fluid sample or a bone marrow sample, preferably both. Could he subject the man to that? He knew how painful it was, had watched his daughter endure it. The man would need to be drugged, would never consent to it, and likely fight them.</p><p> </p><p>‘Hey,’ a voice said softly.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor looked up. Johnny was awake. </p><p> </p><p>‘What’s up, doc. Got your answers yet?’ He asked, licking his dry lips. ‘Am I discharged?’ Johnny smiled wearily.</p><p> </p><p>‘Um...no’ the man glanced up at him and looked away. He looked through his notebook, busying himself so he didn’t have to converse with the man.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny watched him. ‘You don’t have to feel guilty, you know.’</p><p> </p><p>That got his attention. ‘What?’</p><p> </p><p>‘For this. You don’t have to feel guilty. I’m sure you’ve got your own shit going on. I’m sure you’ll say you have your reasons’</p><p> </p><p>The doctor looked away.</p><p> </p><p>‘You’re not a bad guy,’ Johnny continued. ‘Just a pussy’</p><p> </p><p>The doctor turned to him sharply. ‘What did you say?’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny smiled. He nodded to the door. ‘My partner, or I suppose I should call him an ex-partner, Daniel. He knows what he is. I know what I am. What are you?’ he asked. He knew he was provoking him but this man wasn’t going to help him, Johnny knew that. He spoke calmly. ‘You’re not a bad guy. You’re worse. You tell people, tell yourself, that you’re the good guy but then you stand here and do nothing. You could help and you choose not to’</p><p> </p><p>The man just looked at Johnny before turning and moving towards the door, refusing to answer. He pulled the door closed behind him, not before turning the light off. He heard the other man shouting, asking for the light to be turned back on. The doctor stood outside the door, just listening to him, not moving.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor considered Johnny’s comment. Who was he? What was worse? To be the bad guy, or a man with no convictions either way. He realised he didn’t care. He was just a man with a sick daughter and no other way to pay for her treatment. </p><p> </p><p>He took his phone out and dialled. ‘Hi, it’s me. I have an idea but it’s gonna require some additional equipment. Uh-huh. Yeah. Stem cells.’</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She sat on the roof of the metal box, the night sky above her. He was scared, she could feel it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, looking for him in the dark. She could feel his heart racing. She breathed again, calming him.</p><p> </p><p>It had been all she could do not to take out the evil bastard who had brought him here. And that butcher of a doctor. She had to wait. All she could do for now was stay with him. </p><p> </p><p>It was working. She felt his heartbeat slow. She felt him drift off to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>************************</p><p> </p><p>The light was on and the doctor was back. Johnny opened his eyes. He moved his wrists. He had given up trying to fight his restraints. Even now he had fully healed he couldn’t move.</p><p> </p><p>A part of him had always known that he could be killed, that he wasn’t invincible. Death was something that he had never really feared, had just accepted that it was going to happen one day, and it would probably be a violent one. But this doctor and his medical instruments scared Johnny more than death ever did. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny had always feared capture more than death. He knew that there were people out there who would want what he could do for themselves. It would be worse than dying, to become some kind of lab rat, poked and prodded and experimented on until the end of his life. He would rather die, would kill himself if he had to. </p><p> </p><p>There was a silver metal table next to him, like something from a hospital, with an array of syringes, plus a long thick needle. He looked to the left. There was what looked like a hospital bed, white plain mattress, and metal railings. His heart rate increased with panic. This was what he had always feared.</p><p> </p><p>He cleared his throat, tried to get rid of the tremble in his voice. ‘Hey man, what’s happening?’ he asked. </p><p> </p><p>The doctor was in front of him, holding a hypodermic, not making eye contact. ‘I want a stem cell specimen’ was all he answered.</p><p> </p><p>‘What do you mean? What is that?’</p><p> </p><p>He finally looked the other man in the eye. ‘Stem cells are cells in the body that make different cells. They’re in all of us. I want to see what yours look like’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny licked his lips. ‘Uh… OK. And where are you gonna get these from.’ He glanced down at the medical equipment. </p><p> </p><p>‘From your hip bone and your spine.’ The man came towards Johnny with a needle. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny flinched away as the doctor got closer. ‘And what’s that?’</p><p> </p><p>‘This will put you under for a while. I need you lying down for this.’ He nodded towards the bed. </p><p> </p><p>He looked down at the bed and the medical equipment. Did he want to be awake? The thought of being put under, to have this man use his equipment while he lay helpless terrified him. The fear was worse than any pain he could imagine.</p><p> </p><p>‘No, please. I won’t stop you, but please don’t knock me out,’ he asked desperately.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor looked at the syringe and at Johnny. He put his hand on the man’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry. You won’t want to be awake for this’ He put the needle into Johnny’s arm.</p><p> </p><p>*************************</p><p> </p><p>Johnny woke, groggy and in pain. He opened his eyes. His head hurt and he was so thirsty. Pain radiated from his hip, it felt like he had been stabbed, right down to the bone. He shifted, trying to get some of the pressure from his hip, and the pain transferred to his lower back. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked down and across at the bed. There was blood on the white sheets and the yellow stain of iodine. On the table were blood-covered instruments, bandages, and gauze. </p><p> </p><p>The site of it, the medical equipment, knowing that it was his blood, made him feel sick.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor was still there. Daniel was standing at the back of the room, leaning against the far wall, arms folded, watching them. A man Johnny didn’t recognise stood next to him.</p><p> </p><p>‘Got everything you need?’ he croaked angrily. The doctor didn’t respond. Johnny looked across at Daniel. ‘You just come to watch, you fucking sadist?’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel stood up from the wall and walked around, relaxed. ‘Just checking in. Although I don’t have to worry too much. I see you’ve healed up nicely’</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah, I did. No fucking thanks to you.’</p><p> </p><p>He was angry, so unbelievably angry. He wanted to rip the other man to pieces for what he had done to him, five years of partnership be damned. Johnny didn’t know who the man in front of him was anymore. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel could see it, could see Johnny’s anger. He always could read the man’s emotions. Johnny held his emotions on his sleeve. Daniel was frankly amazed that the man had kept so many secrets from him, lied to him so many times. He had always taken it for granted that Johnny was an open book, a good man but not particularly smart. They had both learnt a lot about each other these last few days.</p><p> </p><p>‘And who’s this asshole?’ Johnny nodded towards the third man</p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked around at the other man. ‘A contact of mine. He’s more experienced in, well, wherever it is that you fit’</p><p> </p><p>The man walked towards Johnny. He stood in front of Johnny, looking down at him. Johnny watched him. The man had silver hair, slicked back, a tailored suit and tanned skin. There was a specific smell about him. He smelt of money. It reminded Johnny of his stepfather. It made him hate him even more.</p><p> </p><p>The man spoke first. ‘Good afternoon Mr Lawrence. If all goes well between me and your partner, we shall be seeing much more of each other.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked into the man’s eyes, saw nothing. The man gazed impassively at Johnny like he was nothing. Johnny dragged his eyes away and looked past him at Daniel. ‘Who is this guy, Daniel?’</p><p> </p><p>The man answered. ‘I’ll be handling the transaction for Mr LaRusso’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at Daniel and back to the man. He spoke to Daniel, voice desperate. ‘What transaction? Daniel, what’s going on?’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel held his hand up. ‘Don’t worry, Johnny. Nothing has been agreed yet’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny stared at the two men, glancing from to the other. He didn’t know what to say anymore. Johnny made the decision then and there. He wasn’t going to be taken, wasn’t going to let them experiment on him anymore. He would kill himself first. He looked down at the trolley, looked at the scalpel, his blood still on it. If he could get hold of that he would slit his own throat. He would be dead before his body could heal. </p><p> </p><p>He looked up at the man in front of him. His eyes had followed Johnny’s down to the trolley. He smirked.</p><p> </p><p>‘Are you thinking of sticking that in me or yourself?’ he asked. ‘Because I can tell you, you won’t get the opportunity to do either.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at the man, desperately trying to hold his gaze. This man terrified him. Daniel had scared him but he had grown to know what Daniel was capable of. Daniel was just a thug, a small-time crook after money and power. He had seen Daniel’s controlling side many times; knew the man had been capable of violence. It had been the background noise to their relationship for longer than Johnny would ever have admitted out loud.</p><p> </p><p>But this new guy truly terrified Johnny. He gave off a coldness and a darkness that Johnny had never experienced before. It chilled him, made him feel truly hopeless.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny dropped his eyes. The man smiled and walked away. Daniel followed him.</p><p> </p><p>**********************</p><p> </p><p>She sat in the dark watching the two men leave, climb into an oversized saloon car, and drive away. She felt his desperation, his feeling of despair. She had to act soon, before it was too late.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Want to take a moment to say thanks for all the comments and kudos. Anyone who writes on here will tell you how important it is to know that people are enjoying our mad ramblings 😁</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two men were in Daniel’s office back at the dealership. Daniel poured them both a glass of his best scotch. He handed it to the other man and sat behind his desk.</p><p> </p><p>‘So, Mr LaRusso. It would seem that you have something very interesting on your hands here’</p><p> </p><p>‘Mm’ Daniel made a noise in confirmation. This man had been recommended to him by a third party. He was a well-established weapons dealer but would handle anything of interest that could make him money. And Johnny was definitely of interest. It had taken some convincing to get him to come all the way to LA but when he had been sent some of the early results of the tests, he’d had chartered the next available plane.</p><p> </p><p>But now Daniel had met him, he didn’t like him. He didn’t trust him. </p><p> </p><p>The man cocked his head, looking at Daniel. ‘Tell me, Mr LaRusso. What is your relationship to that man?’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel turned and looked out the window. What was his relationship with Johnny? Johnny was his partner, but also so much more than that. He loved the man. Daniel had tamed the blond bully of his childhood. Johnny was Daniel’s most prized possession.</p><p> </p><p>‘Our relationship is none of your business’ Daniel responded, not looking around.</p><p> </p><p>The man watched Daniel for a moment. He smiled. ‘Well, I definitely think we can come to some arrangement here. The tests your doctor ran are a good start. They of course will run their own tests when they have him. Find out what he is really capable of’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel turned towards him. ‘Have him?’ he asked with confusion. ‘Wait…. what?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Mr Lawrence’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel leaned forward. ‘No. You’re not taking him. We took his blood, his cells. That’s enough for you to do what you need to do’</p><p> </p><p>The man sat back in his chair, glass resting on the arm, and considered the man in front of him. ‘Mr LaRusso. What did you think you were selling here? I don’t want his blood, his cells. I am talking about him. The whole package. This is a onetime sale’</p><p> </p><p>‘So… uh. If we were talking about him, what would that look like?’ Daniel asked tentatively. This was not what he had planned.</p><p> </p><p>‘I’ve got some interest. Military mostly. Not US obviously, too much accountability, red tape. They don’t tend to buy what I sell. This transaction would be strictly off the books. Let’s put it this way, you’re not gonna get a receipt for your tax return.’ The man smiled.</p><p> </p><p>‘You say military? Like research, weapons? That type of thing?’ </p><p> </p><p>‘These countries are interested in, shall we say, increasing their influence around the world. They are always interested in something that can give them the edge against their enemies. Imagine what they could do with a whole army with your partner’s powers. Initial conversations are going well. They are sceptical but excited.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel was silent. He hadn’t considered for a moment that he would lose Johnny. Had he? Could he really sell him, the man he loved, hand Johnny over to this man for a life of...what? Military research of some foreign power on the other side of the planet? Daniel has done some things in his time but this felt like an evil even he wasn’t capable of.</p><p> </p><p>The man considered Daniel, could see his brain working. ‘My advice to you, Mr LaRusso is you don’t ask too many questions. We make the transaction, you get paid, I get my commission. Everyone wins’</p><p> </p><p>The words came out of Daniel’s mouth before he could stop them. ‘Except Johnny’</p><p> </p><p>Mr Barker narrowed his eyes at Daniel. ‘You came to me, Mr LaRusso. You put him in that box, put those cuffs on him. You shot him. There’s no coming back from this. If you need to make your conscience right, you do that on your own time’ The man stood, drinking the remainder of his drink. ‘I’ll contact you when I have a buyer. You are going to be a very rich man, Mr LaRusso. You’re playing with the big boys now’ He smiled and placed his glass on the wooden desk, next to the coaster, and turned, leaving the room.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel sat and watched the condensation from the glass trickle down, collecting at the bottom of the glass and onto the wood of his desk.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was dark. Johnny was in pain, the ache in his hip and back were still there. There was someone in the room. He opened his eyes slowly. He was so tired</p><p> </p><p>‘Hello,’ he croaked into the darkness. The person was in front of his face. He blinked and looked into blue eyes. He knew those eyes. </p><p> </p><p>‘Ma’ he murmured. He could see her eyes, her blonde hair. Was he dead? He felt calm. His mother had come for him, to take him away from here.</p><p> </p><p>‘Are you OK?’ she whispered. </p><p> </p><p>He wanted to cry. She would look after him. ‘I need help, Ma’ he said softly.</p><p> </p><p>‘I need you to look at me. I’m going to help you but I need you to wake up,’ the voice said.</p><p> </p><p>He nodded weakly and drifted off again. Someone took hold of his jaw, lifted his head.</p><p> </p><p>‘You need to stay awake. We only have a little time. Open your eyes and look at me.’ </p><p> </p><p>Johnny forced his eyes open and winced, looking away. The person was holding a torch in his face, the light blinding in the pitch-black room. </p><p> </p><p>‘I’m going to get you out but I need you awake’ She held a bottle of water in front of his face. ‘Drink this’</p><p> </p><p>He started to come to. He wasn’t dead. Someone was in front of him. A woman. Blonde hair, blue eyes. He was so thirsty he could almost smell the water. He drank as many mouthfuls as he could before she took it away. ‘Who are you?’ he said, head still fuzzy but feeling better for the drink. </p><p> </p><p>‘Don’t mind that right now. You just need to listen to me and do as I say. I am going to get you out of these restraints and help you get out of here,’ she said.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny nodded. He opened his eyes as wide as he could bear. She wasn’t going to hurt him, he could tell. And something else, something familiar. He felt something comforting coming from her. </p><p> </p><p>She was holding something in her hand, a hammer wrapped in cloth. ‘What’s that?’</p><p> </p><p>She smiled. ‘This is gonna break that’ she nodded to the metal around Johnny’s neck. ‘I’m hoping that I can shatter it. Same with your cuffs’</p><p> </p><p>He shook his head. ‘They’re too strong’</p><p> </p><p>She smiled reassuringly. ‘Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. You won’t be able to break these by pulling on them but hit them hard enough and they’ll shatter. Might be strong but still have their weakness’ she said with a smile. ‘I need you to hold still. This is gonna hurt but I’m going to be as careful as I can’</p><p> </p><p>She didn’t waste any time and Johnny barely had a moment to prepare himself before she swung the hammer at the metal bar circling his neck. Johnny flinched violently as she did. There was a dull clang and the impact ripped through him, making him cry out in pain.</p><p> </p><p>But the metal broke. Cracked appeared across it and the woman hit it again before she began to pull the pieces away. Soon enough there was a gap large enough that he could get his neck out. </p><p> </p><p>‘Hands’ she said and Johnny moved awkwardly, showing her the cuffs that wrapped his wrists behind his back. </p><p> </p><p>She broke the metal, leaving behind the steel that wouldn’t shatter. She picked up a pair of bolt cutters and broke the chain, leaving the cuffs around his wrists. ‘Sorry, you’re gonna have a nice pair of bracelets until we can get those off’. </p><p> </p><p>The woman made quick work of his ankle restraints. Johnny stood, staggering. She caught him and helped him to his feet. He was stiff, his knee aching where, despite the healing, he had been sat with it bent into the same position for such a long time. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny threw his arm over her shoulder, not asking permission, and she steadied him. He looked down at the pieces of metal, broken on the floor. They moved towards the door. She pulled the door back gently, wincing at the screech of metal and they stepped out into the fresh air.</p><p> </p><p>They were surrounded by metal boxes. Shipping containers. Johnny heard the familiar noises of the dock. He had been held not far away from where he had been attacked. The fresh air felt amazing on his face. He suddenly realised how he must look to her; how bad he must smell having been in there for so long. If she noticed, she didn’t say anything.</p><p> </p><p>As they moved through the corridor of shipping containers, they passed two men, both with guns, lying on the floor. Johnny looked down at them.</p><p> </p><p>‘I knocked them out’ she muttered.</p><p> </p><p>There was a sound. Footsteps. They moved into the darkness between two containers. Johnny was still weak but could move on his own. He looked at her in the darkness. She put her fingers to her lips. A man passed them, not seeing them in the shadows.</p><p> </p><p>‘We need to move’ she murmured. He nodded and they moved silently in the dark. </p><p> </p><p>There was a shout. They heard another shout. They had released that Johnny was gone.</p><p> </p><p>They ran.</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was a car hidden in the shadows. The woman jumped in and Johnny climbed into the passenger side. She started the engine and drove away at speed. </p><p> </p><p>For the first time, Johnny took a good look at her. That feeling of familiarity was still with him. There was something else, something he couldn't pinpoint.</p><p> </p><p>She saw him looking and smiled. ‘I’ll answer all your questions once we get you somewhere safe’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny nodded slowly. He glanced down at himself, almost did a double-take. His clothes were filthy, covered in dried blood. There were tears in his t-shirt and his jeans, dark red blood encrusted around the frayed material. His hands were covered in it, rust coloured under his nails and in the lines on his palms. He breathed and tipped his head back onto the headrest. The fear of the last few days had left him shaken, he could feel the adrenaline in his system, making him feel jittery.</p><p> </p><p>‘Not long now’ she said, sensing his distress.</p><p> </p><p>He nodded but didn’t respond. The distress began to fade. In its place was warmth, familiarity. Johnny closed his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>************************</p><p> </p><p>The car pulled into an underground garage and she parked up. She glanced at him quickly before getting out. He followed and they made their way into the elevators and up to an apartment block. Johnny followed her down the corridor until they stopped in front of an apartment. She unlocked the door and they stepped inside. She quickly locked the door behind them.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny followed her into the entrance of a small, tidy apartment. There was an open plan living area with a small kitchen. To the left was a sitting area, coffee table, sofa. It smelt pleasant, as if someone had been burning a candle. There was a side unit covered in photos in frames of various styles. </p><p> </p><p>He turned and looked at her. She was considering him silently. She seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts and went back to business.</p><p> </p><p>‘Let me look at those’ she said, gesturing to the metal cuffs around his wrists. She took out some tools, two pins, and he held his wrist out. She pulled him under the light and worked at the lock with the pins. Soon the cuffs fell off. She did the same with the second. </p><p> </p><p>She smiled. ‘Been practising,’ she commented. She threw the metal cuffs into the trash. I’ve got you some clothes. Do you want to have a shower and then we can eat and talk,’ she said.</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah, sure’ he answered</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at her, trying to figure out what it was about her that was triggering something in his mind. The feeling was strong but he didn’t know what it was. It was familiar, comforting. He had mistaken her for his mother. It was that same feeling he had felt remembered from his childhood when his mother comforted him, that same feeling of safety, as if nothing bad could happen when they were there. It disorientated him. </p><p> </p><p>She headed down the hall, showed him the bathroom. It was large and perfectly clean, white ceramic against navy and white tiles. There were soft towels and a pile of men’s clothes on a chair next to the basin, men’s toiletries placed on top. She had obviously been planning for his arrival. </p><p> </p><p>‘Help yourself to anything and take your time. I’ll be here when you’re ready’ </p><p> </p><p>‘Thank you,’ he muttered as he stepped into the bathroom. </p><p> </p><p>She turned to walk away and stopped. She turned. ‘Food. What do you want? You’re not, like veggie, or anything are you. Do burgers work?’ </p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah. That would be great’</p><p> </p><p>She nodded and turned. </p><p> </p><p>‘Hey,’ he said, stopping her, taking hold of her arm. He looked down at his hand and quickly dropped it ‘You saved me and I don’t even know your name.’</p><p> </p><p>She smiled. ‘Clara. Nice to meet you’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny closed the bathroom door gently behind him. There was a mirror over the basin. He looked at himself. Johnny had expected not to recognise the face in the mirror but he looked like…. himself. He needed a shave and a wash but apart from that, there was no evidence on his face of the past few days. His life had changed forever but he was still here. </p><p> </p><p>He winced as he pulled his ruined t-shirt over his head. His body was marked but there was no sign of the bullet that had been put into his shoulder. He turned and looked at his back. There was blood and yellow stains on his skin. He could see a red puncture mark on his lower back, over his spine, and another on his hip. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked away from them and dragged his jeans and underwear down his legs and to his ankles, pulling off the remainder of his clothes. He examined his knee. He had some redness on the back of his calf, where most of the visible damage had been done, but that would be gone soon. He climbed into the shower.</p><p> </p><p>Clara stood in her kitchen, listening to the sound of the water through the wall. She breathed. She’d got him out. The next part was going to be harder.</p><p> </p><p>She turned towards the frames on the side. She walked towards them and picked one up. She had considered putting them away before bringing him here, but she didn’t want to hide them. She knew he would have to see them eventually.</p><p> </p><p>The photo showed her mother and her mother’s high school boyfriend, the only picture of her father she had, given to her days before her mother had passed away. She looked at the blond boy, wide smile, red jacket, and black headband. She looked up and towards the closed bathroom door. The same boy, now with so much more life behind him.</p>
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<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The man was scared. He sat behind his desk, hearing angry screaming coming from the other room. The man had escaped, gotten away somehow. The only thing left were the tools used to cut through the metal and the restraints broken on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor listened as Daniel shouting into his phone, a string of swear words and violent threats. He felt for whoever was on the receiving end of that anger. He didn’t care. He had what he needed, had done his job, and expected to get paid.</p><p> </p><p>The door swung open, hitting the wall loudly and he looked up. The dark-haired man strode into the room, looking calmer now he had expressed his displeasure to his minions. He was followed by the other man. That man frightened him more than Daniel and now they were both standing over his desk. </p><p> </p><p>‘You had better have some good news for me’ Daniel said sharply.</p><p> </p><p>‘Uh...yeah. Well, not good news but what I hope is…’ he stuttered.</p><p> </p><p>‘Just get on with it!’ Daniel snapped at him.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor flinched. He picked up a report. ‘I’ve run some experiments on the sample I got and the regeneration rate of the cells are faster and superior to anything I have seen in humans, it’s amazing really. Maybe in caudata amphibians or echinoderms, you know, marine life….’</p><p> </p><p>‘So, he’s a fucking fish’ the man interrupted impatiently. </p><p> </p><p>The man shook his head. ‘No, no. He’s human. But there is something in his cells that heals quicker than any human. I don’t know how.’ The man took his glasses from his face and rubbed his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>He was tired, had hardly slept since Mr LaRusso first came to see him, and offered to pay for his kid’s surgery. If he had known what Mr LaRusso had planned for him, would he have taken the offer? Probably. He thought back to what that man had said, about good people and bad people, about him being worse. As far as the doctor was concerned morals were something that you could either afford to have or couldn’t. And morals were a luxury that he could not afford right now, that his daughter could not afford. It was easy to talk about morals when you don’t have a dying child.</p><p> </p><p>‘The strength, the speed’ he started. ‘None of this is unheard of. Plenty of animals can move fast and lift multiple times their body weight. Everything he does is explainable in nature. Even his sixth sense, for want of a better way of putting it. Some animals could feel their surroundings, pick up things that others can’t.’ He paused. ‘Why he has them all and where they came from, that I can’t answer.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel sat down opposite the man. ‘That’s a whole lot of hypothesising, doc. Do you have anything useful for me?’</p><p> </p><p>The man paused. He considered the two men, looked between them. He stood slowly and made his way over to the door. They followed him.</p><p> </p><p>They crossed the hall and entered the doctor’s lab. He picked up a vial of clear liquid, looking like nothing more than water. </p><p> </p><p>‘This is your friend,’ the doctor said.</p><p> </p><p>The two men stepped closer, both bending forward and looked at it. Daniel looked up at the doctor. ‘What is that?’</p><p> </p><p>‘The stem cells I got from his spine, did some work on them. Enhanced them, manipulated them. This can recreate whatever it is that makes your friend unique’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel took the vial from him. ‘And what would we do with these?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Well, we need to do some more work, some more research but technically at some point we might be able to actually put these in a normal person, they would multiply, and give that person the same abilities’</p><p> </p><p>‘You’re kidding me?’ the third man asked in astonishment. He had imagined that it could be done but never thought that this provincial man and his lab would be able to achieve it.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor shook his head. He knew that this was going to be the moment that Daniel decides if he had been worth the investment. He looked at the men. Daniel looked suitably impressed.</p><p> </p><p>‘So, you are saying that we could put this stuff into someone and they could have those abilities. The strength, the speed? Everything else?’ Daniel asked.</p><p> </p><p>‘As I said, we need to do more research to ensure it’s safe, but technically, yes’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked at the vial with wonder. It suddenly dawned on him just how valuable Johnny could be. He had some thinking to do.</p><p> </p><p>He turned back to the doctor. ‘Thanks, doc. You‘ve done well.’ He placed the vial back on its stand. ‘You’ll get your money as soon as I decide what to do next.’ He turned to leave.</p><p> </p><p>‘But Mr LaRusso! You said that I would be paid when I figured your partner out. I did that! I have bills to pay’’ Daniel stopped in the doorway. ‘I need the money now.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel turned. ‘Keep working. Send your daughter's medical bills to my accountant. We will deduct it from the final amount. Fair?’ He walked out.</p>
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<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Clara looked up at the sound in the hall. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny walked through, dressed in the clothes she had left, blue jeans and a plain grey t-shirt, feet bare. He rubbed at his head with a towel, blond hair sticking up. He felt better.</p><p> </p><p>She stood and made her way to the kitchen where she had boiled a kettle. She made coffee for them both. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny stood at the counter and placed the towel on a stall. She passed him a mug of hot liquid. He took it with gratitude. He could smell food cooking. Johnny was starving. He hadn’t eaten in days and his body craved calories. </p><p> </p><p>Clara seemed to read his mind. ‘I imagine you must be hungry so I’m making you two burgers. Plain hamburger with cheese good for you?’</p><p> </p><p>He smiled. ‘That sounds great.’</p><p> </p><p>Ten minutes later they were eating. Johnny got through the food in record time. He sat back in his chair, watching Clara as she ate, wiping his hands on a napkin.</p><p> </p><p>‘Clara,’ he said. ‘There’s something about you, you know. We’ve never met but I feel like I know you. Who are you?’</p><p> </p><p>She smiled, placing her half-eaten burger down. She took a breath. ‘I was born in nineteen eighty-six. My mom was a single mum, raised me by herself. We lived in California for a while and moved to Colorado. I never knew my father. I was the result of a one night stand.’</p><p> </p><p>He looked at her and nodded slowly. ‘Uh… what was your mother’s name?’</p><p> </p><p>She stood and walked across the room, picked up a frame. She passed the photo to him. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at the picture. Clara as a young girl on a beach, the sea behind her and blonde hair whipping around her head in the wind. Standing next to her, holding onto a sun hat was Ali Mills. He stared at the photo, not speaking. </p><p> </p><p>He looked up. She was holding another photo. He took it from her hand.</p><p> </p><p>‘Mom gave me this before she died. It was the only picture she had of my father.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked down at the photo. Him and Ali, before they broke up. He thought back to graduation. Ali and Daniel had split, Daniel had dumped her over some stupid reason that Johnny remembered included that yellow car and a college friend Daniel had seen her speaking to. Two nights after graduation Johnny and Ali had met at a party. He was going to college, finally getting away from Sid, and she was taking a year out before starting the long process of getting into medical school. They had drunk and laughed and remembered old times. And then they had made love on the beach. He remembered it like it was yesterday.</p><p> </p><p>‘Ali had a baby?’ He asked, voice soft, looking at the photo.</p><p> </p><p>‘She did. And that baby is me’ </p><p> </p><p>He looked up at her, really looking at her for the first time. He took in her eyes, her nose, her blonde hair. She had his mother’s eyes. She had Ali’s nose. But what had she inherited from him?</p><p> </p><p>‘You’re my daughter?’ He didn’t know why he was asking. He knew the answer. That feeling; the familiarity, the comfort. He had mistaken her for his mother. </p><p> </p><p>Clara watched him, watched him process the information. ‘Yeah.’</p><p> </p><p>He put the frame on the table. ‘You said…. you said that your mother died?’</p><p> </p><p>She sat opposite him. ‘Mom passed away about ten years ago. Breast cancer’</p><p> </p><p>He put his hands on the table and breathed out. ‘Ali's dead?’</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah,’ she replied, softly. Her mother’s death was still raw to her, even ten years later. </p><p> </p><p>He swallowed thickly. ‘Did she tell you much about me?’</p><p> </p><p>Clara shrugged. ‘Some. She told me your name and gave me the photo. She didn’t give me a lot of details, just said that you had an on-again-off-again thing in High School.’</p><p> </p><p>‘But...how did you find me?’ Johnny asked.</p><p> </p><p>She smiled. ‘I spent a long time looking for you. I watched you for a while, saw you out at night, fighting crime.’ The smile turned into a grim line. ‘Your partner, he’s not a good man’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at her sadly. ‘I loved him; you know. I really did. Things with him weren’t always good, Daniel could be…. difficult to live with. But I did love him. I probably still do’</p><p> </p><p>Clara took his hand. ‘I understand’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked down at their hands. He looked back up at her. God, she looked so much like his mother. </p><p> </p><p>Clara cleared her throat. ‘I saw them take you, I’ve just been looking for a way in for a while. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.’</p><p> </p><p>He nodded. It felt like one bombshell after another. Daniel turning on him, Ali’s death, and a daughter he never knew he had. He was mentally and physically exhausted. He needed to be by himself and wanted more than anything to sleep. She smiled; she could feel it.</p><p> </p><p>He let go of her hand. ‘Uh… I think I need sleep. I’m exhausted and.... all this….’ his voice trailed off as he looked at the photos in front of him. </p><p> </p><p>She smiled. ‘Sure. I’ve made up the spare room for you. Down the hall, last door. Sleep for as long as you need to. There are some more clothes in there for you’</p><p> </p><p>He stood and walked towards the hall. Johnny turned. ‘Thank you, for finding me’</p><p> </p><p>Clara looked at him and just smiled. Johnny nodded, turned, and walked away.</p><p> </p><p>*************************</p><p> </p><p>The man sat on the stool in the lab. It was late and he had let himself into the darkened building. He picked up the small vial, looked at the clear liquid. It looked so unremarkable. </p><p> </p><p>He tapped the glass vial on the desk as he thought. Daniel LaRusso was weak. His feelings for his partner were going to get in the way. He would handle Daniel and the doctor. He would ensure that no one else knew what had happened in this lab.</p><p> </p><p>But first, he needed to find Johnny Lawrence. He was worth too much to let escape. Mr Lawrence was going to make him a very wealthy man.</p>
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<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The man paced the room, impatient. He felt like he had been waiting for hours. Goddamn doctors always dragging everything out like they were discovering the fucking genome or something. He walked over the window and looked out. His eyes travelled downwards to the photos on the doctor's desk. A picture of a young girl, no older than ten. The sick daughter. He looked away and went back to pacing. </p><p> </p><p>He looked up as a door opened. The doctor walked in, startled as he realised the men were in his office.</p><p> </p><p>‘Well?!’ The man said sharply. </p><p> </p><p>The doctor looked away and walked to his desk, looking at his notes. He sighed. ‘It’s no good.’</p><p> </p><p>‘What do you mean it’s no good?’ He responded through gritted teeth.</p><p> </p><p>‘I mean, it’s no good. We don’t know anything about this stuff. We need to test it, then do human clinical trials. It’s too dangerous otherwise. I’m not giving it to anyone until I know more.’</p><p> </p><p>The other man snorted with derision. ‘Oh, have some balls. I thought you doctors were about taking risks.’</p><p> </p><p>The man considered him for a moment. ‘I’m not going to do it.’</p><p> </p><p>He put his hands on the desk and leant forward, looking the doctor in the eye. ‘Test it on me’</p><p> </p><p>The doctor looked around, as if someone else could hear them. ‘But Mr LaRusso said….’</p><p> </p><p>He moved closer, bared his teeth. ‘You leave Mr LaRusso to me.’</p><p> </p><p>**********************</p><p> </p><p>Johnny woke slowly. He was in a big bed, comfortable for the first time in days. Safe for the first time in days. He wrapped the bedclothes around him. He didn’t want to get out, didn’t want to face what was next.</p><p> </p><p>What was next? Johnny couldn’t go back to his life, his business. All his belongings were in the apartment he shared with Daniel.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel. Would Daniel be looking for him? How angry would Daniel be to find him gone? And the other man. How dangerous was he? </p><p> </p><p>Johnny was scared. Daniel scared him. He had spent years loving him. Johnny wasn’t stupid, he knew what their relationship was, knew what others would call what went on behind closed doors. But Johnny had loved him and had believed that, despite all his flaws, Daniel loved him. But now….? </p><p> </p><p>And now he had someone else to think about. Clara. His daughter. Why had Ali felt she couldn't tell him? Johnny remembered that night so well. The last time he saw Ali before they all went off into the world. He would have done the right thing, wouldn't he, if she had told him? And Ali was dead. Johnny hadn’t seen her for almost thirty-five years but he found that the news that she had died made him incredibly sad. She had always been so full of life.</p><p>************************</p><p> </p><p>Clara sat on her sofa, throwing glances at the closed bedroom door. She had stuck her head in hours earlier to check on her guest. The only sign that anyone was there was the shape of the curled up body under the bedclothes. Johnny had been asleep for over fifteen hours. He must have been exhausted. </p><p> </p><p>She wasn’t going to wake him, letting him sleep for as long as he needed. It wasn’t that she was putting off their next move, she just didn’t know what that move was. As long as he was asleep, she didn’t have to tell Johnny that she had no idea what she was doing. Her plan had only gone as far as getting him out of there. </p><p> </p><p>Watching Johnny be dragged into a van by men hired by his partner, it had been all she could do to let it happen, not to interfere. She had known she would never have been able to take them all. She would most likely have ended up dead, and Johnny with her. </p><p> </p><p>Clara had spent years looking for Johnny. She had needed to know who her father was and if he could explain to her why she was so different to others. No one knew, not even her mother, about Clara’s secret. She had excelled at sports at school and college, almost joining a national team but all the testing she would have been subjected to had put an end to that dream. She had kept her secret for so long and she was so scared of anyone finding out.</p><p> </p><p>She had eventually found Johnny teaching martial arts in the day, going home to his partner in the evening. And she had watched him head out into the night. The first time she had watched him, taking down a gang attempting to rob a convenience store, she had been impressed. Proud. Scared for him. </p><p> </p><p>She had watched him the night he had been taken away. She had watched him enter the warehouse and exit it injured. She’d tried to get to him but he had run. Clara has seen the comings and goings of the container where they had kept him, listening to their plans, and waiting for the perfect time</p><p> </p><p>When she had finally got in, what she had seen had terrified her. He had looked broken and so afraid. She had always been good at putting people at ease, one of her special talents, the ability to manipulate people’s emotions. She’d calmed Johnny as best she could. But the medical experiments, the doctor taking pieces of him to analyse, that had always been one of her own personal worst nightmares. The dehumanisation of looking at someone under a microscope, as if they were a bug in a museum. She would never forgive Daniel LaRusso for doing that to another human, let alone one who had trusted him.</p><p> </p><p>Clara jumped, the sound of movement breaking her thoughts. She looked up as the bedroom door opened. She heard footsteps in the hall and the bathroom door close. There was the sound of the shower.</p><p> </p><p>She pulled her legs to her chest on the sofa, waited for him. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny stood under the warm water. He felt better. His back and hip no longer ached, the food and rest had done him good. He needed the shower. He knew he was clean but all those days trapped in a metal box, he felt like he needed to scrub himself raw to feel human again. Being poked and prodded by that fucking doctor. The feeling that his body wasn’t his own lingered. </p><p> </p><p>The water was starting to cool by the time he got out. He pulled on the same clothes as last night and walked out into the living area. Clara was sitting on the sofa waiting for him</p><p> </p><p>Her gaze followed him across the room as he sat in the chair opposite her. She pulled her knees up closer to herself. They were silent for a few moments.</p><p> </p><p>She broke the silence. ‘Are you feeling better?’ she asked.</p><p> </p><p>‘Yeah. Thanks for…. you know. Letting me sleep’ </p><p> </p><p>There was a pause. They both knew they had a lot to talk about but neither wanted to start the conversation. Instead, Johnny stood and walked over the side where Clara kept her photos. He picked one up.</p><p> </p><p>‘You went to Harvard?’ he asked with surprise.</p><p> </p><p>She stood and looked at the photo. Her graduation, her mother standing next to her. </p><p> </p><p>‘I did. History. Then Medieval History at Oxford’ she answered. She was proud of her education. Not that it had gotten her very far, a small-time history teacher at the local community college. Not exactly what her tutor had in mind when he encouraged her to go all the way to Oxford for her post-grad. But she enjoyed the work.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny let out a low whistle. ‘My daughter. Harvard and Oxford.’ He placed the photo back. ‘Must have got your brains from your mom.’</p><p> </p><p>Clara moved across the room. She wrapped her arms around herself and watched him. Johnny turned slowly and looked at her. </p><p> </p><p>He cleared his throat nervously. ‘What did you inherit from me?’ he asked carefully.</p><p> </p><p>She looked at him. Clara had never told anyone. Not her mother, doctors, boyfriends. Not her best friends. The urge to keep her secret to herself overwhelmed her. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny could feel it. Her fear. Her apprehension. ‘Hey,’ he stepped towards her. Clara flinched at his sudden movement and he saw it. He stopped. He held his hands up. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I just….’ He paused. ‘I don’t know how to do this whole father-daughter thing, you know. It’s all pretty new to me.’</p><p> </p><p>Clara smiled but didn’t move her arms held around her. ‘I know. I’m sorry. It’s not you, you know. I have just never spoken to anyone about this.’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny nodded and perched himself on the back of the chair.</p><p> </p><p>‘Um...so. I know I’m different to other people. Strength. Speed. I never get sick, not even a cold or a sore throat. And I can feel people, you know. Feel when they are angry or sad. And I can change that, calm people, help people if they are upset. Almost like I can flick a switch in their brain and change how they are feeling’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny didn’t speak, let her talk. </p><p> </p><p>‘I never told anyone. Not even my mother.’ She smiled. ‘I saw you out there, using your gifts to help people. I could never be that brave’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny moved and sat back on the sofa. ‘You ever used your…. abilities?’</p><p> </p><p>She sat on the sofa, a space between them. ‘One or twice. Defence, you know. At college, one guy got a little rough, didn’t take no for an answer. I hit him, broke some of his ribs’</p><p> </p><p>Johnny snorted a laugh. ‘Sounds like he deserved it.’</p><p> </p><p>She smiled. ‘He did’</p><p> </p><p>There was a silence, not uncomfortable, not quite comfortable. Them both just settling into each other's company. Johnny sat back on the sofa and tipped his head towards her. </p><p> </p><p>‘What you did for me. That was brave.’ He reached out and took her hand. Clara looked down at their hands. She looked up at Johnny. ‘Thank you. You saved me.’</p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The door opened and Johnny looked up. He stood to help Clara with her shopping bags, taking them from her hands. She had been out for groceries and to pick up some additional items for him. Four days had passed since Johnny had arrived. He hadn't left the apartment.</p><p> </p><p>The two of them had talked and were starting to get to know each other. She called him Johnny, Dad not feeling natural to either of them. She would go to work in the daytime to find Johnny hadn’t moved from the sofa, sometimes coming home to find him sleeping there. She was worried that he was becoming depressed. Clara had tried to help him, to use her abilities to make him feel better, but she left for work and his mood would darken again.</p><p> </p><p>They didn’t talk about what Johnny was going to do next. They both knew he couldn’t hide in the apartment forever. But they also knew that Johnny had nowhere to go. He had suggested trying to get back to his apartment, sneak in when Daniel wasn’t there, just long enough to collect some things. Clara has convinced him it was too dangerous. That would be the first place Daniel would expect Johnny to go. Same with the Cobra Kai dojo. So, he stayed in the apartment, his life on hold.</p><p> </p><p>Clara smiled at him as she unpacked the groceries. Out of one of the bags, she pulled a six-pack of Coors Banquet. Johnny chuckled and took the pack from her.</p><p> </p><p>‘Thank you,’ he said as he walked back to the sofa with them.</p><p> </p><p>‘Not sure how you can drink that crap, but if it puts you in a better mood…’ She had meant it as a joke and immediately regretted the last comment.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked at her and looked down at the bottle in his hands.</p><p> </p><p>‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that’ she said.</p><p> </p><p>He shook his head. ‘No, I’m sorry. I’m in your apartment, in your space. I should get my shit together; make arrangements, you know….’</p><p> </p><p>‘No. You can stay. I’m sorry. I’m just not used to having company, not very good with stuff like this. You can stay here as long as you need’ she said.</p><p> </p><p>Clara opened a bottle of beer for herself and sat next to him on the sofa. She took a mouthful. She smiled and looked at the bottle. ‘It’s not actually that bad’</p><p> </p><p>*********************</p><p> </p><p>The doctor paced. The man leaned back on the desk, arms crossed, watching him.</p><p> </p><p>He stopped, his face firm. ‘I’m not doing it. It could kill you.’ </p><p> </p><p>The man sighed with impatience. He had expected this from this gutless little man. Zero vision for the opportunity in front of his face. ‘It isn’t going to kill me. Stop being melodramatic’</p><p> </p><p>‘We don’t know anything about this stuff. Let me at least do some tests on it first, some animal trials?’</p><p> </p><p>He waved a hand dismissively. ‘Fine. How long?’</p><p> </p><p>The doctors began to pace again. ‘Uh, OK. Animal trials usually take a few months. If the animals survive then the next…’</p><p> </p><p>‘A few months! No. Stick it in a monkey. If it’s alive tomorrow, then we are doing it.’</p><p> </p><p>He stopped pacing. ‘It doesn't work like that. I’m not going to do it. Sorry but I am not going to put this stuff into anyone without tests. Not even you.’ The doctor stopped and winced at his last words.</p><p> </p><p>He stared at the man and burst out laughing. ‘Not even me.’ he repeated. ‘I like it. Some honesty at least.’ The man paused and suddenly grabbed the man, put his hands on the man’s ribs and shoved him against a wall. </p><p> </p><p>‘Now you listen to me, you little prick. You don’t get to make the decisions here, you got that!’ He shouted into the man’s face.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor stood his ground. ‘I’m sorry. The answer is no’</p><p> </p><p>The other man smiled at him, inches from the man’s face. ‘You will. Because if you don’t, I will go down to that hospital and put a bullet in that fucking daughter of yours. Put the poor bitch out of her goddamn misery!’</p><p> </p><p>The doctor looked back at him. He sounded so calm. The doctor did not doubt that the other man would follow through with his promise. Who was this man that Mr LaRusso had become involved with?</p><p> </p><p>He sighed. ‘OK. Tomorrow.’</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The blond man lay in bed. He stared at the white ceiling. He had been staring at the same crack in the plaster for god knows how long. </p><p> </p><p>He missed Daniel. Missed him like there was a hole in his chest. He knew why they called it heartbreak. The pain was worse than any knife or bullet.</p><p> </p><p>Johnny had found himself dreaming of Daniel, waking up feeling a combination of devastatingly sad and red with anger. Angry with himself. After everything that he had found out about the other man, everything the man had done to him, what he had been planning to do if Clara hadn’t come along. Johnny still loved him so much. </p><p> </p><p>Things with Daniel had not always been good, Johnny had known that, had done his best to ignore it. Daniel could be controlling, had always been quick to anger, and sometimes took that temper out on Johnny. He could be violent. Not often but enough. Johnny had never truly feared Daniel, not really, but he had never fought back. He was always afraid of hurting Daniel if an argument escalated, so he took it, and waited for the man to apologise. He always did.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel could be rough during sex, would treat their lovemaking like a battle to be won. It was worse when Daniel’s work stressed him out. </p><p>  </p><p>Johnny had eventually found it easier to not fight Daniel, to let him win, to stop letting things escalate. </p><p> </p><p>Johnny looked back at his mother. When he was young, he couldn’t understand how she would submit to her husband. He had hated her for being so weak. Now Johnny let the same thing happen to him. Maybe it was genetic, that weakness. Some would ask why a man who could lift a car would stay with a partner who dominated him. He couldn’t even explain that to himself.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel had bought him things, only the best for my boyfriend, he would say to Johnny. But it was never truly for Johnny. Daniel never asked what Johnny wanted. Daniel had exchanged Johnny’s Firebird for a top of the range Lamborghini, telling Johnny that he couldn't have him driving ‘that piece of shit’. Johnny had loved that Firebird. He hated the supercar. He drove it but it wasn’t him. He wasn't really sure who it was.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe that’s why Johnny had gone out every night and had never told Daniel. Johnny had told himself it was to help people. He knew it was also to retain some piece of who he was before Daniel had taken possession of him.</p><p> </p><p>And yet, Johnny missed Daniel so much. He hated himself for it. Johnny rolled onto his side and curled up, bringing his knees to his chest. He felt so lost. </p><p> </p><p>The thought of what was next exhausted him, the thought of facing the reality of his life sending him crawling back to bed.</p><p> </p><p>************************</p><p> </p><p>‘Where is he, Mr LaRusso?’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel looked down at the pistol on his desk, the man’s finger on the trigger, the barrel pointing towards him. He looked up at the man.</p><p> </p><p>‘I don’t know. Do you think I know? He screwed me as much as he’s screwed you,’ Daniel said, answer dripping with impatience, despite the weapon pointed at him.</p><p> </p><p>The man smiled at him, the smile of a man who had little to fear from small-time drug dealers. ‘I think you know exactly where your boyfriend is. I think you decided to back out on our deal, got soft on me and helped him to escape.’</p><p> </p><p>Daniel stood quickly and walked towards the door. The man watched him, the barrel of the gun following him across the room. Daniel was feeling brave. This man wasn’t going to shoot him in the middle of the day at LaRusso Autos. He pulled the office door open and gestured. ‘Get out. Deal’s off.’</p><p> </p><p>That smile again. The man stood and walked towards Daniel; gun still raised. He laughed and put the gun inside his jacket. Daniel narrowed his eyes at him. He was not a man used to being laughed at.</p><p> </p><p>‘Get out,’ he repeated.</p><p> </p><p>The man lunged, grabbing Daniel, one hand on his throat. Daniel hit the window to his office, the sound of the blinds getting the attention of people outside.</p><p> </p><p>He looked into Daniel’s eyes. ‘I am not letting you screw this up, you understand me.’ </p><p> </p><p>Daniel tried to speak and the man squeezed tighter, silencing him. </p><p> </p><p>‘I’m going to find your little boyfriend’ he looked Daniel up and down with a sneer. ‘I knew you were weak as soon as I met you’ He shoved Daniel again. ‘You are not going to fuck this deal up, it’s worth too much. You tell Mr Lawrence that if he thinks he can hide from me, he is very much mistaken. Tell him that I am coming for him.’</p><p> </p><p>He shoved Daniel against the blinds and walked out of the room.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel leaned back against the window, heart racing. It had been many years since he had felt fear like that. </p><p> </p><p>‘Daniel, who the hell was that?’ Amanda said behind him.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>There was a soft knock at the door. Johnny opened his eyes at the sound. Clara walked into the room, a tray in her hand. She had a bowl of soup and a cup of tea. She had been leaving food for him as he slept, ready for when he woke. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked at her, blinking. He had a headache from being in bed for so long. Johnny knew he had to move, had to get up. He couldn't hide from the world indefinitely.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Hey. You’re awake’ Clare said gently as she placed the tray on the dresser. ‘How are you?’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Johnny rubbed his eyes, ran his hands down to his chin. ‘I’m OK,’ he said. He wasn’t sure if it was true. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clara sat on the bed. She moved back and sat against the headboard and looked down at the father she had never known. He looked devastated, his eyes were red and just incredibly sad. She took a breath and began to talk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>'When mom gave me that photo of the two of you, she had been sick for a long time. Her hair fell out from all the treatment.’ Clara smiled. ‘That was the worst for her, the day she lost her hair. Everything else up to then had just been happening inside her body, but that was the first time she knew she was really sick, the first time she acknowledged it, you know. I think she knew she was going to die and she wanted me to find you. Mom told me about you, her first love. She told me that despite the fights the two of you would have, you could always make her laugh, make her feel alive. She loved your energy, your good humour, even when things were shit, she said that you would crack a joke and everything would be OK.’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Johnny looked up at her, before looking away. ‘I guess I must seem a bit of a disappointment to you. The sad old man you brought home,’ he said, voice bitter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘No’ Clara said, smiling. ‘I think you’re wonderful. What you do for people, the danger you put yourself in to help them. You trusted Daniel because you loved him. But you’re not alone, I’m with you. You can stay here for as long as you need. If you want to stay in bed until you feel ready to face the world, then that’s fine. And if you want to go out there and face Daniel, that's fine too. I’ll be here by your side all the way.’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clara reached down and ran her hands through her father's hair, comforting him. He knew what she was doing, using her gift to put his mind at rest. He closed his eyes and let it happen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*******************</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daniel sat on the sofa of their apartment, drinking a bottle of Johnny’s cheap beer. He looked around. Signs of Johnny were everywhere. His jacket still slung over the back of a chair. His laptop sitting open on a table, his car keys thrown into a bowl on the side. The apartment felt empty, deserted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He missed Johnny, missed him so much. What that man had planned for Johnny, sending him away to god knows where, to be locked away and experimented on, Daniel had never meant for that to happen. Had he? What did he think was going to happen? Daniel felt like a fool. As he looked around their apartment, the home they had made together, he realised what a terrible mistake he had made. He hated himself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With Johnny around Daniel had never really considered the other man. Johnny loved him. Daniel knew he could be a son of a bitch to live with but Johnny had always seemed happy, ready to forgive him. Now he was gone, Daniel realised that he couldn’t imagine life without him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Johnny had spoken of Mr Miyagi. He had asked Daniel what Mr Miyagi would have said. Daniel didn’t need to imagine what the old man would have said. Daniel remembered all too clearly when Mr Miyagi had discovered Daniel’s new business venture all those years ago. He had been so upset with his former student. They had always been poor, Daniel has argued. What should others prosper while Daniel and his mother had been forced to pick up scraps? Mr Miagi has looked at Daniel with such disappointment, such heartbreak. And then he had left, with the invitation for Daniel to find him if he ever got out of the hole he was digging himself. Daniel never did. He was angry at what he saw as an old man’s judgement. And then the man had passed away and it had been too late to make it right.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He needed to find Johnny. It was too late for Mr Miyagi but maybe it wasn’t too late for Johnny. Daniel was so afraid. He had put Johnny in terrible danger and he needed to find him before that man did. He was going to bring Johnny home. Johnny would forgive him. He always did. They would go home and everything would go back to normal. They would be happy again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daniel knew where to find him, knew who he would be with.</span>
</p>
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